Russia imposing temporary ban on export of precious metals waste, scrap

MOSCOW. Nov 25 (Interfax) - The Russian government has introduced a temporary ban on the export of waste and scrap of precious metals from December 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025, this decision will enable increasing the load of Russian refinery operators, the Russian government said on its website on Saturday.

"For the duration of the restrictions, Russia will not export waste and scrap of precious metals or metals clad with precious metals, other waste and scrap containing precious metals or precious metal compounds. The export of waste and scrap of electrical and electronic products used to extract precious metals, which are important for the country's domestic market, will also be suspended," the government said in a statement.

"The ban will not apply to export of cathode antimony in ingots, as well as samples taken from batches of the scrap and waste from precious metals exported by refining organizations," the statement said. At the same time, the weight of one sample must not exceed 500 grams in a single consignment, regardless of the number of such consignments in a foreign trade contract, it said.

Similar temporary restrictions have been introduced starting from February 2022, the Russian government said. "These measures enable increasing capacity utilization of Russian processing enterprises, including refineries, and attracting significant volumes of secondary raw materials containing precious metals into precious metals processing and production processes," it said.