"Prices are at the bottom because supplies from Russia are expected to dry up in the next two months as the country finds it tougher to ship material," said a Mumbai trader on Wednesday.

The fall in brass prices has been the standout feature in Indian scrap metal this year. The Brass Honey specification has dropped to around $900 a tonne CIF Mumbai from $1,300 a tonne in the early part of this year, traders say.

"Russian materials have been offered at ridiculous prices," said another trader. Other scrap prices have fallen this year mostly in line with the decline in London Metal Exchange prices for refined metal, but they have not dropped to the same extent as brass.

The offices of most scrap metal dealers in Mumbai are huddled along dusty, crowded backstreets of India's financial capital.

Mostscrap traders insist on confidentiality and some will not put their name on their card.

Among key types of scrap metal traded here are Brass Honey, Copper Berry, Candy and Millberry. India is a powerhouse of the world scrap metal business and Mumbai is a corridor for the flow of much of the scrap into the country from where it fans out to the main consuming centres including New Delhi.

For the world's scrap metal business this year, India has been a saviour, lapping up brass and copper scrap as well as secondary aluminium. Lead and zinc ingots made from melted scrap have been imported too.

Regulations on trade in hazardous waste have dried up imports of zinc and lead waste and led to increased imports of refined metal to replace them.

The only other potential saving grace for the world market is demand from China, the other powerhouse of consumption, but this year buying has dwindled as growth in the economy has slowed, leaving India as the only real pillar of support.

Brass scrap comes into Indiafrom Latin America, Middle East and South Africa, as well as Russia, while copper scrap comes from countries in south-east Asia such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Scrap is used for a whole range of products such as sheets, rods, extrusions, castings and handicraft. For higher tier uses such as power transmission, telecommunications and computers, only top quality refined copper cathode can be used.

"No one believes prices will go up sharply and there is no reason to hold stocks," said another trader in Mumbai. Traders here are living hand to mouth, buying what they need to supply customers and keeping any necessary working stock offshore, in Dubai for example.

Many expect the economic situation in India next year to show little significant improvement and that does not bode too well for base and scrap metals demand, traders said.