Scrap Sourcing and Collection

Scrap is only worth what somebody will pay for it today, in cash, at a weight both sides trust. That sentence is the whole of our sourcing desk. We buy ferrous and non-ferrous scrap at the yard, at the factory gate and on site, and we pay against a weighbridge ticket that shows the weight, the grade and the rate. Nothing is estimated, nothing is negotiated after the fact, and nothing is held back.

What we buy

Ferrous scrap in every commercial grade: heavy melting steel, structural sections, plate, rebar, light gauge, cast iron, turnings and borings. Non-ferrous scrap including copper in all its forms, aluminium extrusion and cast, brass, lead, zinc and stainless steel. We also take material whole where it still looks like what it used to be, which means end-of-life vehicles, obsolete machinery, transformers, boilers, tanks and demolition steel, and we do the dismantling, cutting and sorting ourselves.

Recyclable waste beyond metal is part of the book too. Used tyres, waste oil, e-waste and cable are collected and routed to the right processor rather than left to a landfill. A yard that handles metal well is already set up to handle the rest.

How a load is valued

Every load crosses a certified weighbridge. The material is graded against a stated standard, not against whatever the buyer feels like on the day, and the grade is written on the ticket with the weight and the rate. Payment is made against that ticket. If you disagree with the grade you say so while the material is still on the ground and we resolve it there, which is the only moment at which a disagreement about scrap is cheap.

For larger sellers we send a valuer to site before anything moves. A factory clearing a production line, a contractor demolishing a structure or a fleet operator retiring twenty vehicles gets a written valuation per lot, so the decision to sell is taken on a number rather than on a promise.

Collection network

Our network spans over 300 locations across Africa, and in Kenya we are the market leader by volume. That reach matters for a simple reason: scrap is heavy and worthless to move over distance unless somebody is buying at the other end. A collection point within reach of the seller is what turns a pile of steel behind a workshop into money.

Smaller sellers deliver to the nearest yard and are paid on the spot. Industrial sites, demolition contractors and fleet operators get collection with our own trucks, grab loaders and cutting crews, so material that is welded to the ground or too large for a truck still leaves the site as scrap rather than staying there as a problem.

Grading before it ships

Scrap is graded at the yard, recorded and photographed before it is loaded for export. That record is what the buyer at the other end sees, and it is what protects both the seller and us from the argument that ends most scrap deals badly, which is a disagreement about grade after the vessel has sailed. Our sorting is done by people who do nothing else, using magnets, spark testing and, where the value justifies it, handheld analysers for alloy composition.

Licensed, documented, traceable

Scrap metal dealing in Kenya is a regulated activity, and for good reason. Unregulated collection creates a market for stolen infrastructure: rail fittings, transformer components, roadside barriers and manhole covers all have scrap value. We hold the licensing the activity requires and we keep a record of where each load originated. A seller who cannot say where material came from is not a seller we buy from.

That chain of custody is also what makes our export lawful and our buyers comfortable. Material with a documented origin clears; material without one is detained, and detention costs more than any discount an informal supplier can offer.

Where sourcing meets the other desks

Sourcing rarely stands alone. The scrap we buy feeds the trading desk, which sells it into export markets. Sellers with large volumes of end-of-life plant usually want cash before the dismantling is finished, which is what the financing desk is for. And sites that are being cleared entirely, structural steel and all, are handled by the decommissioning desk from valuation through to remittance. One yard, one ticket, one point of contact, whichever desk you started with.