Anyone buying steel from abroad?

[Adam Marshall]

I've seen some really attractive prices on sheet steel from abroad mainly China. Minimum order 2 tons but that really isn't alot of steel when you think about it.

 

[Matchless]

A friend of mine was involved with re-tubing a steam engine boiler on a preserved line in Estonia, they went for German certified steam tube, the boiler started leaking after 18 months, turned out to be Chinesium with fake certs.... the case is ongoing, not an easy job to put right!

 

[Adam Marshall]

I thought all steel came from abroad nower days.

 

[winchman]

I was at a boiler makers a few years ago and they had a small Chinese steam boiler in the corner, bought by a company and condemned by the installers and insurance man, looked ok but very poor quality. I think for some stuff China is great but some is much safer with the correct paper trail

 

[jerrytug]

I thought all steel came from abroad nower days.

Me too, including Parker's, Brundles etc. Presumably such big suppliers don't want their reputations hurt, so are safer?

 

[earthman]

I bet that the thought of fake certificates being attached to bits of metal never even crosses most peoples minds. Shocking that no product is out of bounds to this sort of thing nowadays.

 

[Welderpaul]

I'd avoid buying steel from China - there's so much bad press about the quality of their steel (and everything else!), i wouldn't risk it. I'd have a job on my hands trying to convince customers that it was fit for purpose.

Do you have any £/T figures to compare UK v. China? I'm suprised that there is enough of a cost difference to make it worthwhile based on a couple of tonne to bring it in from China.

 

[nickk]

Quite a few steel sections I buy,are marked British Steel,didn’t they rescue Scunthorpe,every section I’ve had,has been faultless ,presumably on UK soil,we have some control on their operations.
Noticed that the logo has become more defined in the last couple of years,so their rollers must have been serviced.
I’d imagine that name carries some weight in the world.
Read an interesting book recently,stating the Korean steel is very high quality.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Read an interesting book recently,stating the Korean steel is very high quality.

Well, they build huge floaty things, not many[if at all] have joined Davy Jones.

 

[TechnicAl]

OutuKumpu of Finland being another. Mainly stainless and duplexes

and Sheffield https://www.outokumpu.com/en/locations/sheffieldsmacc

 

[Parm]

I bet that the thought of fake certificates being attached to bits of metal never even crosses most peoples minds. Shocking that no product is out of bounds to this sort of thing nowadays.

Not only that, the fakes are so good you really need to be a forensic detective to spot the differences

 

[4String.]

Yeah British Steel in scunthorpe going strong with new Chinese backers. Not short of money

Along with many other North Yorkshire/Teesside lorry drivers I've spent most of the last 2 weeks running 25 ton loads of heavy angle iron, 60' lengths of 8"x8"x1", from Scunthorpe steelworks to Middlesbrough docks for shipping to Canada.

At the moment there's a LOT of steel coming out of Scunthorpe and while it could never be described as interesting or "glamorous" work, it's keeping the wheels turning and putting money in the bank.

 

[earthman]

Not only that, the fakes are so good you really need to be a forensic detective to spot the differences

Yes, I'm sure,.....when you want to make a critical item, one that you don't want to snap/break, there's like no way of telling how good that piece of metal actually is before you start?

 

[Paul.]

Many on here will remember steel shortages in the 80s, the firm I was working for at the time bought a load of imported stuff, around 50 tonnes of assorted sections and plate, most of it was junk, laminated plates and sheet, beams that looked like they had been through a roller, undersize and twisted rsa's, I remember a pallet load of 5 or 6mm plate that was perfectly shaped if you were making a gasometer,
I hope they have improved if companies are buying abroad again.

 

[Hitch]

Did some work for a biggish steel stockholder a few years ago. They had a masive heap of Chinese 3mm plate that wasnt fit for sale, something to do with certs for for it, the mkeup wasn't right or something.
They FI'd it to make shuttering for concrete for their own expansion project, it cracked when folding, welds hardy stuck to some of it. Would'nt have wanted to make anything good out of it.

 

[James1979]

We got sold some in Trinidad which was stamped with some pukka brand (can’t remember which) it was absolute rubbish. I’m convinced it was Chinese fakery. It was ‘powdery’ for want of a better term.

just vaporised when you tried to weld it and a bugger to get it to flow. It was for a bonded cage onboard so we just drilled and bolted it in the end. It still cracked to bits within no time at all at sea.