How to check a truck of MS melting scrap before you accept it

Short answer: Agree the grade, piece size and thickness before the truck is loaded, and ask for photos of the actual material. At the gate, look for coated or galvanised steel, heavy rust, wet material, sealed containers and non-metallic rubbish, and weigh the truck both loaded and empty. The truck should come with a tax invoice (an e-invoice if the seller's turnover is above the limit), an e-way bill when the value is over ₹50,000, and a weighbridge slip.

From our yard: MS attachment scrap: melting scrap for induction furnaces in Gujarat and MS profile melting scrap from Bhavnagar for casting foundries.

This guide is for induction-furnace and foundry buyers in India who buy MS (mild steel) melting scrap by the truckload. It follows the Indian standard for ferrous scrap, IS 2549:2023 "Processed Ferrous Scrap — Code for Classification". BIS revised this standard in 2023 to bring it into line with the ISRI grades used in world trade, which are now published by ReMA (Recycled Materials Association).

What should you agree before the truck is loaded?

Most disputes start because "melting scrap" meant one thing to the seller and another to the buyer. Put the grade in writing.

Swipe sideways to see the whole table.

Source: IS 2549:2023, clauses 10.1.1 and 10.1.2. The standard also lists common cut sizes of 900 × 600, 600 × 600, 450 × 450 and 300 × 300 mm, and allows "sizes other than the above" if buyer and supplier agree. The ISRI/ReMA grades are similar: No. 1 Heavy Melting Steel (code 200) is 1/4 inch and thicker with pieces no larger than 60 × 24 inches, and No. 2 HMS is "black and galvanized" from 1/8 inch.

Before the truck is loaded, ask for:

• photos of the exact heap, not a catalogue photo;
• a close-up with a measuring tape on a few pieces to show thickness;
• a photo of the loaded truck from the top before it leaves;
• the vehicle number, so you can match it to the e-way bill.

How do you spot galvanised or coated scrap?

IS 2549 treats coating as its own issue. It defines coating as a thin layer of "zinc, zinc-aluminum, silicon, zinc-iron, tin, enamel, chrome/nickel/cadmium etc." (clause 4.6). It says HMS-1 is uncoated, and that all grades must be free of tin and lead (clauses 6.2 and 6.3).

What to look for:

• Spangle: hot-dip galvanised steel often shows a crystal-like pattern on the surface, "often called a 'spangle'".
• White rust: a "bulky white or gray deposit" on the surface is zinc corrosion, not normal red rust.
• Paint, enamel and tinned sheet: these show up as thin gauge with a coloured or shiny finish. They do not belong in HMS-1.

Why furnaces care: zinc boils at about 907 °C, far below steel melting temperatures, so it leaves the melt as fume. Zinc oxide fume is the main cause of metal fume fever, a known hazard for people who weld or cut galvanised steel.

Why do rust, moisture and piece size matter?

Rust. IS 2549 says all grades must be free of "any excessive rust, corrosion" and byproducts such as slag and mill scale (clause 5.1). Rust is iron oxide, not metal. An induction furnace also cannot clean up a poor charge: its "one major drawback" is its lack of refining capacity, and charge materials "must be free of oxides". Heavy flaking rust means lower yield.

Moisture. Reject standing water, wet mud, and closed sections that can hold water. "A dangerous steam explosion can also be created when liquid water or ice encounters hot, molten metal."

Oversize pieces. Pieces bigger than the agreed size will not fit your crucible and have to be cut again at your cost. Measure a sample of pieces against the size you ordered.

Undersize or thin pieces. Thin sheet in an HMS-1 load is off-grade: the minimum thickness is 6 mm. Both IS 2549 and ReMA accept only a "negligible" or "accidental" amount of off-grade material (ReMA ferrous general guidelines, FS-2023).

What contamination must not be in melting scrap?

IS 2549:2023 lists what must not be in any grade of ferrous scrap (clauses 5.2, 6.8 and 7). Use it as your gate checklist:

• Rubber, plastic, fabric, wood, oil and grease
• Tyres, dirt, concrete, glass and other non-metallic material
• Oils, fuel and hydraulic fluid. Hydraulic cylinders must be "cut open and drained".
• Gas bottles and other sealed containers. The standard defines these as "air or watertight containers without visible openings".
• "Pressurized, fuel, closed or insufficiently open containers", which "could cause explosions"
• Explosives, ammunition, unbroken shells, firearms or parts of them
• Asbestos, PCB-containing capacitors or transformers, mercury switches, and batteries (lead or Ni-Cd)
• Visible copper: motors, wire, cable, radiator cores

The standard also says scrap "shall be checked" with radiation-detection equipment, including for sealed sources that may not show on the outside (clauses 7.3 and 7.4). If you have a radiation monitor at the gate, use it on every truck.

How should a scrap truck be weighed?

A truck scale finds the load by "weighing the vehicle both empty and when loaded". The net weight is gross minus tare.

1. Use a weighbridge that carries a current Legal Metrology verification stamp. In Gujarat, weighbridges are verified and stamped on site (Gujarat Legal Metrology (Enforcement) Rules 2011, rules 16–17).
2. Take the gross weight with the truck loaded and the driver's cabin as it will be on the tare weighing.
3. Unload, then take the tare weight of the same vehicle on the same weighbridge where possible.
4. Check that the slip shows the vehicle number, date and time of both weighings, gross, tare and net, and the slip serial number.
5. Compare the net weight with the invoice quantity. Agree in advance how large a difference is acceptable and which slip counts.

Which documents should travel with the truck?

Tax deducted and collected on scrap (2% GST TDS for registered buyers, and TCS) is explained in our guide Documents in a steel scrap sale in India.

What matters most to induction-furnace buyers?

• Burn loss (yield). One industry grading guide gives indicative induction-furnace yields of 90–93% for HMS-1 and 88–91% for HMS-2 (SteelMath). These are rough figures: actual yield depends on the rust, coating and dirt in your load. Measure yield on your own heats and track it by supplier.
• Density. Heavier, compact scrap charges faster. The same guide gives about 0.7–1.0 t/m³ for HMS-1 and 0.5–0.7 t/m³ for HMS-2 (SteelMath). Both IS 2549 and ReMA require pieces to be cut "to lie flat in the charging box" or prepared "to insure compact charging".
• Charge size. Tell the seller your crucible's maximum piece size and order to it. IS 2549 allows any size that buyer and supplier agree on.
• No mixing. "No delivery shall contain a mixture of grades, unless mutually agreed" (IS 2549, clause 6.7).

Quick gate checklist

1. The grade, size and thickness in the load match the order.
2. Photos taken before loading match what arrived.
3. No galvanised, painted or tinned material in an HMS-1 load.
4. No standing water or wet mud; rust is not flaking off.
5. No sealed containers, cylinders or non-metallic material.
6. Radiation monitor checked, if you have one.
7. Gross and tare weighed; the slip is complete.
8. Invoice, e-way bill and vehicle number all match.

At J.S. STEEL we send photos of the exact material before every load, and every truck load goes with a GST tax invoice (an e-invoice for GST-registered buyers), an e-way bill when the consignment requires one, and a weighbridge slip.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between HMS-1 and HMS-2 melting scrap?

Under IS 2549:2023, HMS-1 is at least 6 mm thick and uncoated only. HMS-2 is at least 3 mm thick and may be coated or uncoated. Both are cut to pieces no larger than 1500 × 600 mm unless the buyer and supplier agree other sizes.

Is galvanised scrap allowed in an HMS-1 load?

No. HMS-1 must be uncoated. Zinc boils at about 907 °C, far below the melting point of steel, so it leaves the melt as fume, and zinc oxide fume is the main cause of metal fume fever.

Can rusty or wet scrap go into an induction furnace?

Heavy flaking rust means lower yield, because rust is iron oxide, not metal, and an induction furnace has little refining capacity. Reject standing water, wet mud and closed sections that can hold water: water meeting molten metal can cause a steam explosion.

How is the net weight of a scrap truck worked out?

Weigh the truck loaded (gross) and empty (tare), on the same verified weighbridge where possible. Net weight is gross minus tare. Compare it with the invoice quantity, and agree in advance how large a difference is acceptable and which slip counts.

Sources

• IS 2549:2023, Processed Ferrous Scrap — Code for Classification (BIS), full text via Public.Resource.Org
• ReMA's ISRI Specifications Circular, July 2026 (PDF)
• SteelMath: Steel scrap grades classification guide
• Wikipedia: Induction furnace
• Wikipedia: Galvanization
• American Galvanizers Association: Wet storage stain
• Wikipedia: Zinc
• Wikipedia: Metal fume fever
• Wikipedia: Steam explosion
• Wikipedia: Weighbridge
• Gujarat Legal Metrology (Enforcement) Rules 2011
• ClearTax: E-invoicing under GST
• ClearTax: E-way bill rules
• TaxGuru: E-way bill not required for intra-city movement in Gujarat