The atmosphere in the branch is a bit chastened. The concern within the EU through the impending exit of Great Britain from the EU, terror attacks and the refugee crisis, which is not overcome, do not contribute to confidence. Neverthe- less the production quantity in 2015 of the European Copper Alloy Ingot Makers stayed practical on previous year ́s level. The current branch survey resulted in a neutral assessment, for the next 12 months it will be expected a little bit more op- timistic.
The industry is facing the realization of the drinking water regulation for some years now. New developed and modified alloys are on the market. The companies look with worrying for their future business to the realization of the new reprotox- ic limit values for lead in alloys. A further arbitrary stigmatisation of lead metal through the authorities could bring this element on a long term on the REACH candidates list.
The passed guideline could complicate significantly the recycling of non-ferrous metal copper scraps in the future. It impends a slow death of lead containing al- loys, which determined the market for decades. The closed raw material circul is at risk to be interrupted. It has to be feared that through this new regulation more business from Europe is shifted into countries, in which the requirements on the products are not as high as in the EU.
