Our country’s nickel and chromium resources for smelting stainless steel are scarce. In the past, our country’s stainless steel application fields were far less extensive than today. The stainless steel output was also small and the self-sufficiency rate was less than 30%. It mainly relied on imports. There were very few stainless steel waste resources produced every year. Stainless steel scrap and The contradiction between supply and demand of nickel, chromium and other resources has become increasingly prominent. Stainless steel scrap is even more scarce in our country, and almost no stainless steel scrap can be recycled every year. Second, stainless steel has a long service life and will not be scrapped within years or even decades. Therefore, stainless steel scrap is even less. Therefore, a large part of my country’s stainless steel scrap relies on imports.
The classification of scrap stainless steel is closely related to the use of stainless steel, which mainly comes from the following sources:
1. Domestic waste: scrap stainless steel appliances used in daily life (old materials), most of the scrap stainless steel imported from Japan and South Korea fall into this category and can only be recycled into furnace materials. For kitchen equipment, tableware, etc., the main steel types are SUS304 and 430. The food processing industry mainly manufactures food processing machinery and containers, such as grain, beer and beverages, dairy processing equipment, quick-freezing and refrigeration equipment. The main steel types are 304, 321, 1Cr13 and antibacterial ferritic stainless steel.
2. Industrial waste: The leftover materials (new materials) sheared and stamped during the industrial production process include some directly usable tubes, rods, plates, etc., in small quantities. Urban landscape projects mainly use stainless steel welded pipes. The automobile industry mainly uses ferritic stainless steel 409 for automobile exhaust pipes. Other industries such as urban water supply projects, environmental protection, petrochemicals, and the electric power industry also produce a lot of waste stainless steel. Pumps and containers for oil, gas, and acid are a large market that generates a large amount of waste stainless steel tanks, pipes, pumps, and valves. The main steel type is 18/8 stainless steel.
Since there are many varieties and specifications of stainless steel scrap, it is necessary to strengthen the management of sorting, processing and warehousing of various types of alloy scrap steel.
Link to this article：What are the main sources of stainless steel scrap in my country?
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