September 22, 2007	Saturday	Ramazan 09, 1428

LONDON, Sept 21: China’s ravenous appetite for scrap metal has sucked the market dry in Europe, leaving aluminium smelters under threat of closure as they struggle to find material, industry sources said.

“The situation in Europe is dramatic with a tremendous shortage of aluminium scrap,” said Frans Bijlhouwer, senior managing consultant at Dutch metals advisor Quality Consultants.

“It is Asia, with China in a leading role, that is buying all the aluminium scrap they can get their hands on,” he added.

The strong demand from China has taken scrap metal away from local ingot makers.—Reuters