2017.06.16 09:21

• Tweet

 Domestic lead battery scrap market has kept a stable high with a range of JPY95-100/kg market on going and FOB JPY105/kg around for Korea. Major lead smelters are laying a scheme to push down prices of battery scraps, thus in some cases less than JPY 90 could be found. But generally speaking, a whole outlook of the market may not suggest any kind of sharp fluctuation.

 

 

 

 

 While in the lead battery scrap markets, presently new export applications have faced higher hurdles because of Basel Act assertion by the governmental reformation, on one hand it is clearly noticed that rushed applications for export licenses of lead battery for Korea surged during the period of last year till May this year piled up for as huge as 400,000tn cumulatively.

 

 However because of physical limitations where the applicants must be employed fully out of the expire of one year permission, they could never see any chance to clear the 400,000 tn export butch.

 

 However when taking account of export performance of lead battery scrap from Japan this year and existing export allowance, it is in an evidently high possibility where export achievement of lead battery scrap 2017 could surpass record high.

 

 Officials of the Ministries of Trade and Industry as well as of Environment both have confirmed that no new export application has been applied yet June 14.  Only even documentary application should be so much complicated, further it is definitely required to describe specific performances of smelters as counterparts of export transaction.

 

 A competent person of the Ministry of Environment admitted “ Even clearing the document examination should be a quite hard work” thus hurdles over newer  applications for battery scrap export is getting higher, but on one hand,

“If equivalent examination levels must be required for non OECD countries, it should be also required to certify production sites. But the feasibility is so much questionable” said in domestic lead smelters industry circles.

 

 Thus, if only documentary proceeding should be in issue, Korean ends could respond with reasonably dressed environmental figures to aim no problematic comments. If the management can get signs of OK, there should be no difference to the past just with much more documents required, is heard somewhere else.   

 

 The examination on the site should be a matter of the Ministry of Environment.

 

 A competent official said “ Documents applied would suggest proceedings afterwards”

 

 Talking about the status quo, they have got actually application for non-OECD countries out of which confirming the five sites. At the same time when including whole applications for Korea export, it could be counted for 90. Local and on site examinations over the 90 applications could be burdensome, which may require whole.

 

 In any way, the examination works have been a subject of usual and sharp questions for how to verify thrown to the Ministry of Environment. 

 In some circles it is rumored “ The procedures could be so much complicated that possibly documentary applications should be first gates to be judged just as NG”

 Thus it is expected hopefully that in a certain point of near future like end of the next year export for Korea could be drastically declined.

 

 Some industry players said on expectation of the near future are increasingly providing element and secondary lead smelters with lead grid and paste from resolved batteries. Larger sized industrial lead batteries sometimes be not dipped with sulfuric acid which secondary smelters could procure without safety issues. But when talking about batteries for automotives, the smelters sometime become more reluctant to procure the material questioning how to resolve sulfuric acid .

 

 In worst cases, discharging sulfuric acid into most local rivers, producers may supply only grid and paste. In future it could be highly probable that discharging waste at decline of the export be a newer issue.

 

 “Even domestic ( Japanese ) battery dismantlers could be sometimes sloppy. When going to Korean or Chinese players , not for all, widespread discharging without any environmental cares could be social issues” relevant persons in major secondary lead smelters pointed.

 

 

（IRUNIVERSE　S. Aoyama）

 

 

 

関連記事

記事一覧