🔬 Quality Inspection in the Scrap Trade

What Inspectors Check

The core questions are always the same: is the material the grade named in the contract, how much does it weigh, and is it safe? Inspectors verify grade conformity against the ReMA specification, estimate or measure contamination and foreign material, check moisture in grades where it matters (turnings and borings especially), and confirm the weight against weighbridge or draft figures.

Radiation screening is universal in modern scrap trade — a single orphaned radioactive source in a load can shut down a mill. Loads pass fixed portal monitors at yards, ports, and mills, and handheld checks are common during loading.

Pre-Shipment Inspection

Many importing countries require pre-shipment inspection (PSI) by an approved agency before scrap may be shipped — the inspection happens at the loading yard or port, and the resulting certificate travels with the shipping documents. Destinations across South Asia and East Asia operate approved-agency regimes of this kind, and China’s import standards for recycled steel and copper raw materials set strict quality thresholds that inspection must confirm.

Internationally recognised inspection companies and destination-country approved agencies perform this work; which agency is acceptable depends entirely on the importing country’s current rules, so shippers confirm the approved list for each destination before loading.

Discharge-Port and Mill Inspection

The buyer’s protection is inspection at arrival: joint surveys at the discharge port or at the mill gate, often tied to the final payment instalment. Where the arriving material misses the contracted grade, claims are negotiated against the inspection findings — which is why sellers photograph and document loading so thoroughly.

Practical Advice

For sellers: load what you sold, document everything, and screen for radiation and prohibited items before the box leaves the yard. For buyers: name the grade precisely, use inspection appropriate to the counterparty and cargo value, and keep claims fact-based. Inspection is a cost, but it is far cheaper than a dispute.