Stainless Steel at Shershah: The Magnet Test and Why Kitchen Scrap Pays Less

Stainless steel scrap trades at a real premium over ordinary mild steel at Shershah, but "stainless steel" itself covers a range of alloys with meaningfully different value, and telling them apart starts with something as simple as a magnet.

The magnet test, and why it isn't perfectly reliable

Austenitic stainless steel, the most common food-grade type used in kitchen equipment, sinks, and many appliance parts, is non-magnetic or only very weakly magnetic. Ferritic stainless, used in some cheaper hardware and certain automotive parts, is magnetic. A magnet test is the fastest rough sort available on the spot, but it isn't a perfect grade test on its own, since cold-working a piece of austenitic stainless (bending or stamping it repeatedly) can make it weakly magnetic even though the underlying alloy hasn't changed. It's a useful first pass, not a final answer.

Why kitchen and catering equipment pays less than it looks like it should

A large stainless steel kitchen counter or sink assembly looks like a substantial piece of valuable metal, but a lot of that bulk is often thin-gauge sheet over a lighter frame, sometimes with non-stainless backing or insulation attached. The actual recoverable stainless content per kilo of visible "stuff" is lower than people expect, which is the main reason quotes on this kind of item often come in below what sellers hoped for.

304 vs 430 and why it matters to the buyer

Grade 304 stainless (higher nickel content, better corrosion resistance, common in genuine food-service equipment) is worth more than grade 430 (lower nickel, more common in budget hardware and some appliance trim). Telling them apart by eye is unreliable. Buyers who deal in volume sometimes use a simple chemical spot-test or a handheld alloy analyser for this, tools an individual seller won't have access to, which is part of why it's worth getting a quote from more than one shop on a large or valuable stainless lot.

What actually helps as a seller

Separate anything you know is genuine catering or food-service grade from general hardware and appliance trim before you go, since mixing them forces a buyer to price the whole lot at the more conservative end. If a piece has manufacturer markings or is clearly from commercial kitchen equipment rather than a household appliance, mentioning that upfront gives the buyer useful information rather than making them guess.