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Summary: Scrap steel hit a year-low of 2,015 RMB/t on October 23, which makes this a reasonable window to secure winter abrasive supply. But stock-up fails on logistics and storage far more often than on price. Six items to check before you place the order.

1. Convert your monthly consumption into tonnes

Start with the number most buyers guess at. Monthly shot consumption equals machine throughput times unit consumption.

A blast room running one 8-hour shift, processing 60 tonnes of structural steel a day at 0.25 kg per tonne, burns 15 kg daily. Over 26 working days that is 390 kg, or about 0.39 tonnes per month. Single-machine shops often run below half a tonne; multi-machine structural fabricators regularly consume 3-5 tonnes.

Foundry cleaning runs much higher. Castings carry sand and complex geometry, so consumption commonly lands between 8 and 15 kg per tonne of casting. A shop producing 200 tonnes of castings a month consumes 1.6-3 tonnes of shot.

If the monthly figure is wrong, the stock-up plan is wrong in the same direction: either capital sits in bags or the line stops mid-month.

2. Plan by size mix, not by total tonnage

S330 and S460 do not wear at the same rate. Fine grades are carried out through the separator faster and disappear sooner; coarse grades last longer but hit harder.

A practical split is 60% main grade, 25% one size finer as top-up, 15% one size coarser for heavy stock removal. Ordering a single size in bulk usually produces a shortage of one grade and a surplus of another.

For steel grit the same logic applies. G25, G40 and G50 cover most work: G40 dominates Sa 2.5 structural descaling, while G25 suits concrete and cast surface texturing.

3. Inspect the warehouse before the material arrives

Steel shot does not fear cold. It fears moisture.

The common failure is bags stacked directly on a concrete floor. Ground damp wicks up, the bottom layer cakes into blocks, and the blocks jam the separator or plug the wheel feed.

Floor pallets raising bags at least 15 cm, stacks no higher than five bags, and warehouse humidity held below 60% solve most of it. Rotate stock first-in-first-out, and re-screen any batch older than six months before use to remove cakes and fines.

4. Get the test report attached to the batch, not promised later

Year-end brings inspection pressure: classification society sign-off, owner spot checks, general contractor documentation. Any of these can land without warning.

Four values decide whether Sa 2.5 and Rz 40-75 μm hold consistently: non-spherical particles at or below 5%, sulphur and phosphorus at or below 0.03%, density at or above 7.4 g/cm³, and cycle life at or above 2,200 cycles — the requirements of standard Q/HX 001-2026.

Specify at the purchase stage that every batch ships with a test report whose batch number matches the stencil on the bag. A report that cannot be matched to the bag is worth nothing at acceptance.

5. Fix the pricing mechanism, not just the volume

Heavy scrap averaged 2,015 RMB/t across 45 cities on October 23, down 36 RMB from 2,051 RMB at the end of September, with the shredded scrap index at 1,993.77 RMB/t. Mills in Hunan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Gansu cut purchase prices by 10-30 RMB/t the same day.

Downside from here is limited: processing yards run lean inventories and stop selling near their cost line. Waiting two more weeks for another 100 RMB is not a strategy.

A more durable structure is an annual framework agreement with a quarterly pricing window. Fix grades, quality standards and response times in the framework; recalculate price each quarter against the scrap index. You are protected on the upside without surrendering the downside.

6. Book freight and payment terms together

December tightens at both ends: receivables slow and trucks get scarce.

Standard grades — alloy steel shot S230-S780 and angular steel grit G12-G120 — ship within 72 hours from stock in Hubei and surrounding warehouses. After mid-December the same distance can take two extra days in the queue.

Order 5-7 days ahead and convert "needed now" into "scheduled". Where prepayment is possible, negotiate price and production priority as a package; that usually beats shaving unit price alone.

FAQ

Q: Is now a good time to stock up on steel shot?

A: For shops consuming above 5 tonnes a month, yes for part of the volume. Lock around 50% of next quarter's requirement at current pricing and keep the rest open. Scrap at 2,015 RMB/t translates to roughly 23 RMB/t of shot, so expect a modest adjustment rather than a large one.

Q: Can steel shot be used after six months in storage?

A: Yes, with preparation. Re-screen to remove cakes and fines, and spot-check the non-spherical particle ratio before loading. Store on pallets at least 15 cm off the floor, no more than five bags high, below 60% relative humidity.

Q: How do I verify quality on arrival?

A: Check four figures on the batch report: non-spherical particles at or below 5%, S and P at or below 0.03%, density at or above 7.4 g/cm³, cycle life at or above 2,200 cycles. Then confirm the report batch number matches the bag stencil.

Q: What lead time should we plan for in December?

A: Standard grades ship within 72 hours from regional stock. From mid-December, allow 5-7 days of advance notice for freight. Non-standard specifications need scheduling, typically 7-10 days.

Mali Steel Shot has manufactured metallic abrasives for 25 years — alloy steel shot, stainless steel shot, cut wire shot and angular steel grit — from a network of 28 warehouse bases across China, with a test report for every batch and free samples on request.

Website: http://www.sisball.com/

Hotline: +86 400-038-8928