HMS 1 & 2 Steel Scrap

Heavy melting steel in 80:20 and 70:30 mixes for EAF charges

Heavy melting steel is defined by thickness and by what is allowed to be in it. HMS 1 is clean, unalloyed steel of at least 6 mm (1/4 inch) thickness, cut to charging-box size — commonly 1.5 × 0.5 m — and free of coated, plated and alloyed material. HMS 2 drops the thickness floor to roughly 3 mm (1/8 inch) and admits galvanised and blackened steel, which is why it carries a discount. Almost nobody contracts either in isolation: the export standard is HMS 1&2 in an 80:20 mix, with 70:30 traded where the buyer's furnace tolerates the lighter fraction and the price gap justifies it. The mix matters because it determines melt yield, and yield is what a melt shop actually pays for — a well-prepared 80:20 cargo should return 96–98% metallic recovery, while a badly prepared one loses the difference to dirt, moisture and non-metallic attachments. The other number to write into the contract is tramp elements, copper above all: residual copper cannot be refined out in an EAF and accumulates in the bath, so mills rolling flat or drawn products hold it near 0.25% and will reject cargoes carrying motors, wiring harnesses or unstripped electrical assemblies.

HMS competes for the charge against shredded and busheling, and the right choice follows the product being rolled. Shredded scrap is fragmentised, magnetically separated and consistent in density, which suits continuous charging and gives predictable chemistry at a premium of typically $15–35 per tonne over 80:20. Busheling and bundles are new production offcuts — the cleanest ferrous charge available and priced accordingly, worth paying for only when residuals genuinely constrain the grade being cast. For long products, rebar and merchant bar, well-prepared 80:20 remains the economic charge. Pricing is benchmarked, not listed: export cargoes are contracted against the Turkish import HMS 1&2 80:20 CFR assessment, adjusted for freight from the load port and for preparation. On execution, we arrange SGS, Intertek or Cotecna supervision at stuffing, radiation scanning with certificate, and the free-of clauses that keep a cargo out of trouble — no radioactive material, no explosives or ordnance, no sealed vessels or gas cylinders, no military scrap, no hazardous residues. Heavy grades load on weight rather than volume, at 24–27 MT into a 20ft container, with bulk vessel shipments arranged where the position is large enough to justify Handysize or Supramax tonnage.