A US guy in China working for a EU scrap yard!

Hello all and good to find the forum!

I am US citizen who is the general manager at a EU scrap yard here in China. It looks like most of the posters here are US based and that's great because I am interested to know a bit more about US scrap. We work primarily with EU scrap (copper, aluminum, and a variety of other mixed metals) and I know US specs on motors, copper content, and import / export restrictions to China can be much different than the EU.

Hoping to meet some good folk and have some interesting conversations about the industry. If anyone else is in Asia or interested in the market here, please drop me a private message and I would love to be in touch.

Take care,

USGUYINCN

Cool man What part of US? What part of China? Welcome to SMF! Does China buy lots of its scrap from EU?

Welcome to the forum. How busy is the scrapping scene in china?

china buys scrap from US also.

He must have already got censored , might even be on death row by now maybe next time he'll be more careful about using "copper" and "export" in the same sentence, specially when texting from China ; ) Seems they're keeping all they can grab of it over "yonder" (not sure what they could possibly be planning to use it all for though, and maybe they're afraid of germany finding out about it too)

Hi all. Sorry for the late reply, but life is pretty hectic here.

To answer everyones questions / comments:

1) Originally from the mid-west, but I have been living here in China or Asia for a very long time so I think I call this place home now.
2) Yes, China buys a good deal of scrap from abroad. Both the EU and US of A. Also Japan tends to be a pretty decent supplier.
3) @Bear - Haha... It can be bad here, but not that bad! Lots of good theories why China is looking at foreign scrap, but all in all, it's a business just like in the States.

I am not a very experienced poster or anything so forgive me if I put things in the wrong categories.

@mechanic688 -> If you know any of the EU or Chinese scrappers on here and want to pass them my info, feel free.

Alright... back to the yard!

@scrapcrazy

Thanks for the interest, but story is not so interesting. No previous scrap experience in the US, that's why I am curious about the quality / differences of US and EU scrap (particularly in motors). I came to Asia many many years ago looking for a change and it is... a change! I stay here because of my lovely wife (Chinese) and son who was born here. I also speak fairly fluent Mandarin Chinese so it helps a lot in communicating with guys in the yard, managers, etc.

How do you become an international scrapper? Haha... offer good quality material, consistant volumes, and cheap prices and you will find that people from all over the world will want to buy ;-)

Just a question for the people on the forum. Are most members small / part-time scrappers or do you work in, operate, or own a yard? I'm curious about the type of volumes that people are working with here. We work with anywhere from 75-150 containers (1650 - 3300 tons) a month, but are working on getting our efficiency up so we can handle more.

Thanks in advance and feel free to ask anything about China scrap or just about living and working here.

"Are most members small / part-time scrappers or do you work in, operate, or own a yard? I'm curious about the type of volumes that people are working with here"

Hi USG I believe you'll find most every size and type here. Me, I'm just a small timer, started cleaning up around the on farm and then picked up a few side jobs. There's others who have their own yards/businesses etc., and some who just pass through

Welcome from York Region Canada