On April 16, the first batch of recycling iron-steel materials, imported from Japan and carried by “TANG SHAN GANG JI 1” of Tangshan Port Hede Shipping Co., Ltd., were smoothly cleared at Tangshan Port in containers. The goods were imported through SINOTRANS HEBEI TANGSHAN COMPANY and supplied to Tangshan Jinma Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. It was China's first batch of imported (broken) recycling iron-steel material SRS since Recycling Iron-steel Raw Materials (GB/T39733-2020) took effect on January 1 this year.

This import was subject to the COVID-19 pandemic, which raised a strict test to the customs of Jingtang Port. Observing the new policy on the import of such materials, Jingtang Port Customs studied relevant national standards and technical specifications, and adjusted and optimized the work program for the whole process ranging from customs clearance, inspection to supervision. This authority worked on key links such as radioactivity inspection, inclusion screening and physical specification classification detection, and released the goods after their inspection results met the standards. It took merely 2 working days from customs declaration to release.

As one of the steel-making raw materials, recycling iron-steel material features a green energy carrying resource that can be recycled indefinitely. It stands for the only high-quality iron making raw material that gradually substitutes iron ore. From this year, to prepare for its import, Hede Shipping has reached China Metallurgical Industry Association to thoroughly study the import policy, given play to the advantages of routes to Japan and South Korea, visited domestic import enterprises, which actively facilitated the import of China's first import of (broken) recycling iron-steel material SRS. So far, Hede Shipping has enabled container liner routes from Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Moji and Hakata in Japan, and from Busan and Pyeongtaek in South Korea to Tangshan Port and Weifang Port on a weekly basis. Its own Bohai Bay branch line system and Tangshan port railway resources make the northeast, North China, northwest, Shandong and other places accessible, so that it can render door-to-door one-stop logistics services for the majority of traders of imported recycling iron-steel materials. In contrast with bulk ships, container transportation takes on the advantages of stable schedule, low cost and high efficiency of loading, unloading and customs clearance. 

To boost the import of recycling steel can lift the recycling rate of ferrite resources, somehow restrain the rise of iron ore price, and contribute to the green transformation and healthy development of the iron and steel industry.