Stainless steel solids and turnings
Stainless offcuts, sheet trim and machining chips. The price follows the grade and its alloy content, so sorting and identification matter more than with carbon steel.
What it is
Production scrap from stainless sheet, tube, bar and castings. Austenitic grades such as 304 and 316 are largely non-magnetic; ferritic and martensitic grades in the 400 series are magnetic.
Typical sources
- Food, beverage and pharmaceutical equipment makers
- Kitchen and appliance manufacturers
- Tube, pipe and fitting producers
- Machine shops
What buyers need to quote
- Grade or grades, and how they were identified (mill certificates or analyser readings)
- Solids or turnings
- Piece size
- Whether grades are kept separate
- Tonnes per month
- Contamination such as protective film or other metals
Photo tips
- Close-ups of tags, stampings or mill-certificate labels
- Each sorted bin, labelled by grade
- Turnings close up, showing how oily they are
What raises its value
- Material separated by grade
- Analyser results or mill certificates
- Clean solids with protective film removed
- Dry turnings
Common reasons for rejection or downgrade
- Mixed grades sold as one grade
- Carbon steel mixed in
- Protective plastic film left on
- Oily turnings
Specifications vary by buyer. The final grade is agreed between you and the buyer against the buyer's specification or recognised industry specifications such as ReMA (formerly ISRI).