Posted on 26 Jul 2018
Fresh scrap trading into Vietnam has effectively been suspended after the discovery that cocaine was smuggled into the country in a container shipment, Kallanish understands. Trading and importing sources also fear that Vietnamese Customs officials will tighten checks even further or increase procedures to bring in container scrap.
On Tuesday Vietnam’s Customs Department found 100kg of cocaine in one of 17 scrap containers which arrived at Cai Mep port. In response to the find, the owner of the cargoes, Pomina Steel Co 2, has said it did not import illegal substances and will cooperate with the Department and other relevant authorities in investigations. It also said the seal on the containers had a different seal number from that on the bill of lading and other received shipping documents.
One source said the container had arrived from Panama. Other reports named the ship that delivered the container as the Maersk Shenzhen, which had recently passed through Chinese and Taiwanese ports. A trader also speculated that the cocaine had been intended to be offloaded at a transhipment port.
Market participants were observing the aftermath and described the smuggling as a “…very big” problem for the owner as well as the industry. “At this moment, it is hard to talk about container offers to Vietnam,” a trader says, because the industry is shocked by the news. In future, he believes that Customs checks on container scrap will be stricter, which could cause Vietnamese buyers to prefer to import bulk scrap. Vietnam imports around 600,000-700,000 tonnes/year of containerised scrap.
Clearance of ferrous scrap containers has been very slow and delayed because of tightened regulations governing the import of all scrap materials including ferrous scrap into Vietnam, as Kallanish reported previously. “It is another reason for us to stop buying container scrap. Environment regulations are already a headache and now this,” a mill’s scrap procurement manager says.
