Wholesale Metals and Minerals Business Guide
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All 38 Documented Cases
Manuelle Nachbearbeitung und Rework durch Spezifikationsverstöße (Kontaminationen)
€15,000–€50,000/year per facility in combined rework labor, equipment operation, and lost margin. Typical scenario: 100-tonne batch contaminated with 2–5% non-ferrous metals = 2–5 tonnes requiring rework. Rework cost: €80–€200/tonne = €160–€1,000/batch. If 1–2% of batches are affected monthly (10,000-tonne/year facility = ~83 batches/month), that is 1–2 rework batches = €160–€2,000/month = €1,920–€24,000/year. Add customer deduction disputes: €5,000–€10,000/year in margin haircuts.Scrap grading requires removal of non-ferrous metals (copper, tin, lead, bronze), mechanical components (motors with Ni/Cr/Mo content), and other steriles before classification into standard grades (E3, E2, E6, E40). The BVSE specification explicitly prohibits: metallic copper, tin in any form, lead-based materials, materials with high dissolved copper (rebars), chromium/nickel/molybdenum alloys above tolerance. Manual hand-sorting (per Interco description) and mechanical separation fail to catch these in 5–10% of batches. Downstream rework involves re-processing: e.g., tin-can contamination requires burning hood operation (additional cost €50–€150/tonne), X-ray florescence to detect residual copper (€30–€80/sample), or manual de-tinning labor (€15–€45/tonne).
Wartezeiten durch manuelle Prüfung und Klassifizierungsprozess (Durchsatzreduzierung)
€30,000–€80,000/year in combined labor bottleneck cost and equipment idle loss. Calculation: (1) Manual grading labor: 10–15 hours/week × €45/hour × 48 weeks = €21,600–€32,400. (2) Equipment idle cost: €50k facility shredder running 25% idle × €200/hour operational cost = €30,000/year lost margin. (3) Foregone sales: 5–10% throughput increase (100–200 tonnes/month) at €300/tonne margin = €36,000–€72,000 lost annual revenue.Incoming scrap arrives in trucks/containers (mixed grades, unknown composition). Manual grading workflow: (1) truck offload and visual triage (30–60 min); (2) sample inspection for contaminants (1–2 hours); (3) grade assignment and batch documentation (30–60 min). Total per batch: 2–4 hours non-value labor. For a 50-tonne/day processor handling 5–10 batches daily, this is 10–40 hours/week of grading-only labor, plus equipment idle time waiting for sorted material. Shredding/pressing equipment cost €500k–€2M, running cost €100–€300/hour; 25% idle time = €20k–€60k annual opportunity cost. Manual errors (misgrading) also cause rework, further reducing throughput.
Klassifizierungsfehler bei Schrottgradierung und Umsatzsteuerrisiko
€8,000–€25,000/year per facility in combined penalties, rework, and audit costs. Typical Betriebsprüfung findings: €5,000–€15,000 per misclassified batch; manual rework: 15–30 hours/month at €45/hour (€675–€1,350/month). Cumulative annual exposure: €10,200–€31,200.Scrap metal grading in Germany requires compliance with European steel scrap specifications (E3, E2, E6, E40 categories) and must document composition, residual elements (copper, tin, lead, chromium, nickel content), and sterility levels. Manual visual inspection creates three risk vectors: (1) Undergrading (lower revenue invoice due to misclassified material value); (2) Overgrading (inflated invoices triggering customer disputes and refunds); (3) Missing contaminant detection (tin, lead, copper presence), which violates BVSE specifications and creates rework costs. Non-compliance triggers Finanzamt audit flags under GoBD (Grundsätze zur Ordnungsmäßigkeit der Buchführung).
Lieferkettensorgfaltgesetz (LkSG) Dokumentation und Betriebsprüfungsrisiko
€20,000–€100,000/year in combined audit costs, potential fines, and lost customer orders. Government fine range: €50,000–€500,000 per LkSG violation (§ 37 LkSG). Typical cost: 40–80 hours annual compliance documentation (€1,800–€3,600 at €45/hour), plus 3–5% customer churn from audit failures (€50,000–€150,000 lost annual revenue for mid-size processor).LkSG mandates due diligence on suppliers' environmental and human rights practices, particularly for conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold from high-risk regions). Scrap traders must: (1) identify supplier identity and location; (2) assess risk of environmental/human rights violations; (3) document remediation if risks detected; (4) maintain records for 10 years. Manual tracking of scrap source (whether from automotive dismantler, manufacturing offcuts, or imported scrap) and supplier compliance creates inconsistency. Audits reveal: missing supplier risk assessments (€5,000–€20,000 per incident), incomplete material traceability (batch origin undocumented), and customer supply chain audits (ThyssenKrupp, Salzgitter) rejecting suppliers without proof of LkSG compliance (lost sales €50,000–€500,000 annually).