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I would like to sell scrap brass,copper, and aluminum scrap directly to foundries. We are a smaller recycling facility and are currently selling to a larger recycling facility. Is there a directory of these foundries? What are average weight minimums required by foundries for copper, brass, and aluminum scrap?
I doudt they would buy unless it was processed. The aluminum will need to be certain grade. I know the copper is usually bought in what they call copper chops. Unless you have the equipment. I would say you will have a rough go at it. But if you want to know for sure. Search for any foundry, and call a couple. Even gray iron foundries use copper to add to the iron.
Not going to happen bud. Try to spend your time elsewhere
Non~Ferrous Scrap Metal Recycling Categories:
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Unless you are dealing in 40000 lbs or heavier loads of one item . That meets their spec .You are wasting your time . Then some of the mills will only buy through brokers. Most mills pay on 45 or 60 day turn around . So you better have good cash flow .
Copper producers, those businesses that are producing products made of copper, usually purchase their material through verifiable sources that are able to provide consistent quality of material, in this case being copper. The difference between high quality metal products and those of questionable quality has a lot to do with the metals that go into making something out of those metals. How the metal crystals form after it's poured for example, which takes precise cooling times, heated molds to pour into, and many many other factors. If the metal is not consistent, then the same process may produce inferior products. This is a problem with products made in China currently, they are recycling much of the steel directly into steel products, and tossing whatever other metals in to alloy percentages, but not high quality, meaning that the alloys of the garbage metals included can make the steel brittle or soft.
So directly selling to the end user might be possible, but only very specific conditions and very few end users who are smelting. It's almost always contracted from a refinery who may also produce the metal in the form their customer requires, such as sheet or pipe. So the entity you would want to process your copper, and sell it to as well, would be a copper refiner.
There are not many copper refiners you will have access to, and who will do business with you. They would prefer doing business with someone who produces a fairly regular stream of material, and of large amounts. But there are some that might work with you. However, if you are sending copper for refining, and if you do not conduct your proposal properly, you will get ripped off. So you must have a good solid understanding of this prior to attempting it, and that can usually only be learned by experience. I have probably said this in posts before, but if you are having anything refined, you need to properly represent your material, if not then will be ripped off. For example, if you do not specifically ask for full accountability, then whatever is in the anode slimes are owned by them and if you are doing large quantities of copper, there is always a little gold and silver that will accumulate in the anode slimes. A lot of times it is these impurities that make the run profitable, not the actual copper.
You might want to talk with a head hunter in this area, to see if you can pick up talent that has previous experience with copper refiners and entertain hiring someone whom already knows this part of the industry. They could totally change your business if you find the right one. Focusing on purchasing the correct type of scrap copper could for example, utterly change the way you do business and what your bottom line margin ends up being.
Anyway, hope this wasn't too much and that you realize there is far more you should be considering before attempting anything like this. It isn't one of those things you can just decide to do, like sourcing for less expensive scrap, and employ it. It's far more complicated.
Scott