As with most types of metal, robust demand for copper scrap from Chinese buyers has propelled pricing for the material to record levels. This surge in demand has soaked up a tremendous amount of copper scrap throughout the world, including the United States. The record prices have resulted in consternation on the part of many domestic consumers, who find it difficult to compete with China's open-checkbook approach.

Reflecting this anxiousness, the U.S. Commerce Department received a request by a host of copper consumers to restrict the export of scrap copper earlier this year. (The request was turned down.) However, some observers wonder whether China's shifting customs policies could have an impact on the import of copper scrap.

Most industry observers agree that during the long term, copper scrap shipments to China will grow, and quite significantly, too. However, for some scrap exporters, several issues are potential causes for concern in the short term.

LEFT IN THE COLD. Starting Jan. 1, 2005, anyone who is looking to ship scrap material directly to China will need a designated shipping number. Without such a number, container lines have been instructed not to put containers on their vessels.

China's Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine agency (AQSIQ) is overseeing the new customs and inspection numbering system. According to the agency's mandate, companies that do not have a license number issued by the government will be prohibited from shipping recyclable materials to China.

While the mandate appears relatively clear-cut, the actual path that AQSIQ has taken in exercising its mandate has been far from straight. Originally announced more than one year ago, the deadline has been pushed back continually as companies shipping material to China have faced a host of roadblocks and uncertainty about forms, deadlines, requirements and specifications.

Even now, with reportedly slightly more than 2,000 companies worldwide having received their AQSIQ numbers, questions remain about the actual effect of the policy.

Scott Horne, legal counsel with the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, says ISRI has been working with AQSIQ to provide accurate information to recyclers throughout the past year. "We have met with them to clarify their notices," he says.

Horne adds that AQSIQ is not as concerned with the commercial aspects associated with importing, but "with the waste material."

Nexans announced it has researched the design of and created a model for 10GBASE-T data traffic over 100 meters of Category 6 copper UTP cable.

Created in a joint project with Penn State University, and funded by the International Copper Association (ICA), this system design models the process data transformation into signal transmission on the cable, the effect of the channel on the signal, and the correction and interpretation of the signal as it is returned to data at the receiving end.

The data used in the model is encoded into a 10-level signal, which is transmitted onto the unshielded twisted-pair cable. At the other end of the system, the signal is recovered by turbo equalization, turbo coding, and additional digital signal processing methods. The model includes the evaluation information in signal eye-patterns and Bit Error Rate versus Signal to Noise Ratio.

* Although demand for both copper and plastic piping was down in 2004 compared to 1999, a forecast from The Freedonia Group Inc., Cleveland, sees both markets rebounding as the decade continues.

The research company's study shows that copper pipe demand in the United States stayed relatively flat in 2004 compared to 1999 (dropping less than 1 percent), while the demand for plastic piping fell by some 500 million feet in length, or about 9 percent. The study cites "a precipitous drop in communications conduit" as the primary culprit in the drop in plastic pipe demand.

But leading up to 2009, the Freedonia Group report forecasts that demand for plastic pipe will rise an average of 2.7 percent per year, reaching a level of 6.6 billion pipe feet in 2009.

Copper pipe demand is also forecast to rise, averaging 2.5 percent annual growth and reaching a total of nearly 6.4 billion pipe feet in 2009. The forecast predicts copper will enjoy a higher percentage of the overall U.S. market in 2009 compared to 1999, meaning demolition contractors should continue to find copper piping for some time to come.

Steel pipe demand is forecast to grow a more modest 1.8 percent per year, reaching a demand level of 2.6 billion pipe feet in 2009, according to the Freedonia Group.

The study also foresees PVC remaining the dominant pipe resin, although HDPE use is expected to grow.

Copper pipe demand will be fueled by the refrigeration and indoor plumbing markets, while storm sewer uses will help the concrete pipe market gain some steam heading toward 2009.