The Chinese port of Qinzhou has repatriated 425.562 mt of substandard Peruvian copper concentrates with arsenic content in excess of state standards, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said in a report on its website Monday.
After repeated laboratory tests, the copper concentrate was found to have arsenic elements of 6.72%, which is 13.44 times above the state's maximum tolerance level.
The material was valued at $531,300 and was received at the end of April. It was imported by Guangzhou Hengrui Import & Export Trading, a subsidiary of Guangzhou Light Holdings, and delivered by Glory Business International.
Peru is mainland China's biggest copper concentrate supplier. In the first five months of the year it accounted for 31%, or 2.1 million mt, of the 6.82 million mt of copper concentrate imported by China, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
In September 2013, the Fuzhou branch of AQSIQ found a batch of 50.12 mt of copper concentrate from the Philippines had arsenic elements about double China's maximum tolerance levels, with potential pollution risks.
It subsequently strengthened inspection of imported copper concentrates, according to AQSIQ.
