How to Read a Metal & Scrap Specification Like a Trader

Scrap and secondary metals are traded worldwide under grade names that sound standardized — and mostly aren't. The same word can imply different contamination limits, different processing, and different expectations depending on the market. The contract's specification sheet, not the grade name, is what protects both sides of the transaction.

What a real specification pins down

• Material definition — alloy family or grade reference, and what reference standard it follows.
• Contamination limits — attachments, coatings, oil, moisture, and non-metallic content, with numbers, not adjectives.
• Physical form — loose, baled, briquetted, sheared; dimensions where they matter to the buyer's furnace or process.
• Weighing and inspection — who weighs, where, with what tolerance, and which third party arbitrates disagreement.
• Rejection mechanics — what happens, commercially, when a load fails: price adjustment scale, return terms, or disposal.

Experienced counterparties settle these points in the contract because they've each paid tuition once. If a specification conversation feels like overkill, it's usually because someone hasn't been through a dispute yet — and the corridor between the US and India rewards the disciplined.