【Stay Alert, Beware of Stainless Steel Procurement Traps1|2】
In today's rapidly growing Chinese foreign trade industry, certain irregularities occasionally arise, particularly in the realm of high-end products like stainless steel. To ensure your procurement interests and project progress, caution is paramount. Below are common pitfalls encountered during stainless steel procurement. Stay vigilant. We'll address this in two parts. Part one focuses on false deliveries and substitution of inferior products.
I.False Deliveries
An increasing number of customers fall victim to this scheme. More and more customers have been cheated, suppliers don’t deliver the goods in a long time after getting the deposit, and don’t return the money; deposit was taken by the supplier and lost contact right away; deliver the goods only with the quantity which the deposit can buy but not the rest; deliver cement in the packing instead of steel coils; deliver second hand tires which are hidden in the packing instead of steel coils; deliver the goods with very poor quality, etc. These situations are difficult to find out, do the background investigation as detailed as you can.
II. Inferior Substitution
This involves passing off lower-grade stainless steel as higher-grade. Price differentials between grades can be significant. Taking August 11, 2023, LME nickel price at $3024.5 per metric ton and 1.0mm stainless steel base sheet as an example: 430 stainless steel hovers around $1161 per ton, while 201 stainless steel is about $1217 per ton. Higher-grade 304 stainless steel is approximately $2350 per ton, and 310 stainless steel is about $3748 per ton. A single grade difference can result in nearly a 50% price gap. For a more visual representation of price fluctuations, refer to the chart. Although this substitution might be hard to detect visually, its impact on your project can be significant. This includes performance degradation and reduced durability.
Furthermore, issues related to undersized thickness and excessive hardness from smaller manufacturers will be discussed in the next part.
Should you have any inquiries, please don't hesitate to reach out to MESCO STEEL's sales team. Let's join hands to steer clear of procurement pitfalls!
For media inquiries, please contact:
[Max Wang]
[General Manager]
[MESCO STEEL]
[mesco@mescogroup.com.cn]
[WhatsAPP+86 15134565556]