According to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade's Ministerial Decision No. 105 of 2026 and the latest feedback from traders, the UAE officially published and implemented a temporary export ban on certain industrial wastes and metal scraps on 3 June 2026, for a duration of 4 months, precisely targeting iron, aluminum, and copper scrap. SMM learned that the core objective of this policy is to retain raw materials domestically; notably, copper ingots are explicitly exempted to encourage high-value-added exports. Given that the UAE had previously imposed a fixed export duty of USD 109/MT on copper scrap, which had already severely squeezed direct export arbitrage margins, this ban will have a limited marginal impact on the copper scrap market. Instead, the primary impact will be concentrated on the copper alloys, such as Honey, Ocean, and Gun metal. From the perspective of global trade flows, the main Asian consumption destinations for UAE scrap are India and South Korea. Due to China's stringent import standards for recycled materials and the historically negligible volume of direct scrap shipments from the UAE to China, this new regulation is expected to have virtually no substantial impact on the Chinese domestic scrap metal supply.

As of the 5th of February 2026, Malaysia has enforced a nationwide absolute ban on e-waste imports from other countries, citing environmental and corruption reasons as the main drivers. Earlier in February, the Home Ministry has also announced the continuity of 'Op Hazard' to combat illegal activities related to e-waste and metal scraps in Malaysia, with up to 7 billion Malaysian Ringgit worth of seizures related to these illegal operations in 2025.

[SMM Flash: US Rare Earth Company May Secure $1.6 Billion to Develop Heavy Rare Earth Project] US Rare Earth Company (USAR) today reached a major agreement to accept financial assistance from the US Department of Commerce, amounting to $1.6 billion. USAR stated that with this funding, it will accelerate its development pace across various stages, including rare earth mining, processing, metal refining, and magnet manufacturing. According to the plan, USAR will extract 40,000 mt of rare earth raw materials daily from its Round Top deposit, with commercial production expected to commence in 2028. Additionally, the company will process a total of 8,000 mt/year of third-party mixed rare earth concentrates, heavy rare earth elements, and critical mineral oxides at the Round Top plant, covering dysprosium, terbium, gallium, and nine other critical minerals. Furthermore, USAR plans to build facilities capable of processing 10,000 mt/year of rare earth metal alloys and rapid-quenched strips, increasing the annual NdFeB magnet capacity to 10,000 mt, with the ability to handle 2,000 mt/year of metal scraps generated during the magnet production process.

[Eight Departments: Implement a New Round of Strategic Action for Mineral Exploration Breakthroughs, Strengthen Surveys and Exploration of Resources Such as Copper, Aluminum, Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt, and Tin] The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other departments have issued the "Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Nonferrous Metals Industry (2025–2026)." The plan mentions strengthening resource exploration and utilization. A new round of strategic action for mineral exploration breakthroughs will be implemented, with enhanced surveys and exploration of resources such as copper, aluminum, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and tin, aiming to achieve new exploration results. The competitive allocation of mining rights will be improved, and mining rights will be released in a scientific and orderly manner. Support will be provided for the research and development of green and efficient mining, beneficiation, and smelting technologies and equipment for low-grade, associated, and refractory resources, to improve the recovery rate of mining, beneficiation recovery rate, and comprehensive utilization rate. Regions with suitable conditions will be supported in establishing recycling bases for renewable resources, enhancing the comprehensive utilization of nonferrous metal scrap such as copper scrap and aluminum scrap, as well as the comprehensive utilization of emerging solid wastes like used power batteries and used PV modules.

【SMM Macro Updates】The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other departments have issued the "Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Nonferrous Metals Industry (2025–2026)," which mentions strengthening resource exploration and utilization. A new round of strategic actions for breakthrough mineral exploration will be implemented, with enhanced surveys and exploration of resources such as copper, aluminum, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and tin, leading to a series of new exploration achievements. The competitive allocation of mining rights will be improved, and mining rights will be released in a scientific and orderly manner. Support will be provided for the research and development of green and efficient mining, beneficiation, and smelting technologies and equipment for low-grade, associated, and refractory resources, aiming to increase the resource recovery rate, ore dressing recovery rate, and comprehensive utilization rate. Regions with suitable conditions will be supported in establishing recycling bases for renewable resources, enhancing the comprehensive utilization of nonferrous metal scrap such as copper scrap and aluminum scrap, as well as the comprehensive utilization of emerging solid wastes like used power batteries and waste PV modules. A public service platform for basic data of the strategic mineral resources industry will be established to provide precise and efficient services for mineral resource utilization.

【SMM Scrap Aluminium Market Analysis】The European Union (EU) is one of the key exporters of scrap metals such as aluminium and copper globally. Amidst the ever-changing global political and economic market, the European market has been slowly inching towards a relatively careful approach towards their exports of scrap metal, which are key materials for the development of local industries, especially towards low carbon emission goals. As the scrap metals were not included in the tariffs outlined in Section 232, they are included under the general tariffs of 15% for EU exports to the US. Under this circumstance, European Aluminium acted as one of the biggest voices of the EU aluminium industries, actively highlighting how the USA’s tariffs make it an unfairly favourable export destination. This might lead into, not only the EU, but the global flow of scrap metal being preferentially exported to the US, leading to a larger shortage of metal scrap when markets are already struggling to fulfill their domestic demand for scrap as a raw material, creating pressure for local businesses and industries to stay afloat.