World Melting Scrap Tenders — A Guidance Page

How Government Scrap Tenders Work

Public bodies generate scrap continuously. Railways replace track, wheels and rolling stock. Defence establishments retire vehicles, vessels and equipment. Electricity utilities replace cables, conductors and transformers. Ports, mints, refineries and public sector plants produce process scrap as part of normal operations.

Because these are public assets, disposal is carried out through formal, transparent procedures — published tenders and electronic auctions. Registered bidders inspect the material, place bids within a deadline, and the highest bidder is provisionally declared successful. Payment and removal of material then follow timelines stated in the tender document.

The portals below are where these opportunities are officially published. Registration on the relevant portal is normally required before bidding, and each tender carries its own terms — always read the specific tender document before participating.

🇮🇳 India

India has one of the most active government scrap disposal systems in the world, anchored by a dedicated public enterprise for scrap trading and the largest railway network scrap programme anywhere.

Beyond the central portals, many Indian states operate their own e-procurement systems where state transport corporations, electricity boards and municipal bodies publish scrap disposal tenders. Bidders working a particular state usually register on that state portal as well.

A note on railways: like Indian Railways through IREPS, the national railway of many countries — from rail replacements to retired rolling stock — is one of the steadiest sources of heavy melting scrap, sold through that country's official procurement or auction platform listed below.

🌎 North America

Federal, state and provincial bodies dispose of surplus and scrap through established online platforms on both sides of the border.

🌎 Latin America

National procurement platforms carry both purchasing and disposal notices from public bodies.

🇪🇺 Europe

TED carries notices from across the EU, while each country runs its own national portal — and several run dedicated state disposal agencies that regularly auction vehicles, machinery and scrap.

🌍 Russia

State property sales and public procurement run on two official federal platforms.

🌍 Middle East & Africa

Gulf procurement runs through unified national platforms; Turkey adds a dedicated state scrap enterprise.

🌏 Asia-Pacific

Asia runs some of the world's most active public auction systems — including dedicated state asset-auction platforms in Korea, Japan and Indonesia.

🚢 Ship Recycling Tenders

End-of-life vessels are a significant source of melting scrap. Commercial owners sell ships for recycling through brokers and negotiated sales, while government vessels — naval ships, coast guard vessels, dredgers and port craft — are typically disposed of through formal tenders.

The principal ship recycling destinations are Alang in Gujarat, India, Chittagong in Bangladesh, and Aliağa in Turkey. In India, decommissioned government and naval vessels are generally auctioned through MSTC, and the resulting steel and non-ferrous scrap flows into the same melting supply chain covered across this site.

The Typical Tender Process

Terms vary by authority and by lot, but most government scrap tenders follow a broadly similar sequence:

How to Identify a Legitimate Tender

Because scrap tenders involve significant money, they attract impersonators. A few simple checks separate genuine tenders from fraudulent ones:

A Closing Note

This page is guidance, not a tender listing. Live tenders open and close every week across the portals above — the current position is always on the official portal of the issuing authority, and the tender document for a specific lot is the only text that governs that sale.

For the companies active in each market that buy and process this material, see the country pages of this site — India, United States, Turkey and others — and the metal pages for steel, copper, aluminium, zinc and stainless steel.