Cast Iron Scrap

Motor blocks, heavy breakable cast and foundry borings

Cast iron is a separate purchase from steel scrap because it is a separate material: 2.5–4% carbon against steel's fraction of a percent, plus 1–3% silicon, which is precisely what a foundry wants in a cupola or induction charge and what a steel mill does not. The grades that trade are heavy breakable cast — machinery bases, pipe, radiators, counterweights and heavy castings broken to charge size — clean auto cast, motor blocks with the aluminium and non-ferrous attachments either stripped or explicitly declared, and cast iron borings and machine-shop turnings from engineering works. Size is a contractual term, not a detail: cupola charging and induction furnace coil geometry both cap the piece dimensions a foundry can accept, and a cargo of unbroken engine blocks or two-metre pipe sections is an expensive problem at the far end. We contract to the buyer's charge dimensions, commonly 0.5 m maximum, with weight limits per piece where the furnace requires it.

The two things that decide whether a cast cargo is worth its price are attachments and preparation. Unstripped motor blocks carry aluminium pistons, copper windings, bearing metal and sometimes residual oil — all of which reduce the payable iron and, in the case of copper, contaminate the melt. If they are there they must be declared and priced, not discovered on discharge. Borings and turnings carry cutting oil, swarf fines and moisture, oxidise quickly in storage and are often briquetted before charging to avoid blow-back and yield loss; contract them with an oil and moisture ceiling and expect a discount to solids that reflects the real recovery, not the theoretical one. Free-of clauses run the same as ferrous generally — no radioactive material, no sealed vessels, no explosives — with radiation scanning and a certificate at loading. Cast is dense, so containers load out on weight at around 25–27 MT per 20ft box, and we arrange SGS or Intertek supervision at stuffing on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.