What is brass scrap and how does the industry classify it?
Brass is copper-zinc alloy — nominally 60% copper / 40% zinc for cartridge brass, 70% copper / 30% zinc for red brass, 63% copper / 37% zinc for free-cutting alloys with small lead additions. Brass scrap is any recoverable brass-bearing material recycled back into secondary brass ingots or directly into rod, tube and forging billet. Global trade classifies brass scrap under HS code 7404 (copper waste and scrap, brass component) or 7602 depending on national customs practice. ISRI's Scrap Specifications Circular assigns memorable aliases: Honey for #1 yellow brass, Pale for #1 red brass, Ocean for enameled brass, Ebony for mixed heavy brass, Label for lead-bearing brass, Nassau for brass borings and turnings. Every reputable brass ingot maker and rod mill contracts against the ISRI grade — the working vocabulary of the trade.
Honey — the flagship yellow brass grade
Honey (ISRI Honey) is #1 yellow brass — clean, unlacquered, unalloyed yellow brass scrap from plumbing fittings, hardware and cartridge cases, nominal chemistry Cu 60–65% / Zn 35–40% / Pb ≤ 0.5%. Nautica's Honey contract specifies: minimum 60% copper, minimum 35% zinc, ≤ 0.5% lead, ≤ 0.3% iron, ≤ 0.5% tin, free of manganese-bronze fittings, free of aluminum-bronze, free of insulated components. Physical form is loose heavy solids in 20GP containers at 24–26 MT net. Honey ships against a blended LME Copper × 0.60 + LME Zinc × 0.38 anchor at 85–92% CIF depending on the exact chemistry test. It is the highest-value brass grade because it feeds direct into rod-mill re-melt without heavy refining. See /brass-honey-scrap for the full spec.
Pale — #1 red brass and the copper-heavy grades
Pale (ISRI Pale) is #1 red brass — copper-heavy brass (nominally Cu 85% / Zn 5% / Sn 5% / Pb 5%) from plumbing valves, marine hardware and pump fittings. Because of the higher copper content and often significant tin and lead, Pale trades separately from yellow brass and prices against a heavier copper-weight LME anchor. Ephraim (ISRI Ephraim) is admiralty brass condenser tubes — a specialty grade for shipyard scrap. Every red-brass container is chemistry-tested on inbound because visual sort between yellow and red brass is imperfect and mixing shifts contract price materially. See /brass-scrap for the general brass landing and dedicated grade pages linked below.
Ocean and the enameled/coated brass fractions
Ocean (ISRI Ocean) is enameled brass — clean brass with baked enamel or lacquer coatings, chemistry equivalent to Honey but with a coating burn-off allowance in the refining melt. Ocean prices roughly 3–5% below equivalent-chemistry Honey to reflect coating losses. Coated fittings from hardware manufacturers, coated cartridge cases and lacquered decorative brass all fall in this category. Buyers with rotary or reverberatory furnaces that can burn off coatings prefer Ocean over Honey for the price discount; buyers with tighter emissions control prefer Honey clean.
Ebony, Label and mixed heavy brass grades
Ebony (ISRI Ebony) is mixed heavy yellow brass with attached iron or steel — plumbing fittings still on their steel mounts, brass valve bodies with cast-iron handles, mixed hardware. Label (ISRI Label) is lead-bearing brass — machining stock with lead additions for free-cutting properties (nominally Pb 2–4%). Both trade at wider LME discounts because downstream processing must separate ferrous (Ebony) or manage lead in the melt (Label). Ebony discount 65–75% of the blended LME Cu+Zn; Label 70–80% depending on lead percentage. Buyers matched to these grades are large secondary brass smelters with slag-handling and lead-control capacity.
Nassau — brass borings and turnings
Nassau (ISRI Nassau) is brass borings, turnings and shavings — swarf from screw-machine and lathe operations on brass rod. Density is much lower than solid brass (0.8–1.2 t/m³ vs 4–5 t/m³ for solids) and Nassau typically ships in drums or briquetted form. Chemistry is high (yellow-brass equivalent Cu 60% / Zn 38% typical) but recovery in the melt is lower due to surface oxidation on the fine chip. Nautica's Nassau is drained of cutting oil (EU regulation) before shipment and shipped either loose in drums or hydraulically briquetted for freight economy. Discount to blended LME 75–82%.
How brass is priced — the LME Copper + LME Zinc blended anchor
Brass has no dedicated LME contract. Contracts price against a chemistry-weighted blend of LME Copper Grade A cash settlement and LME Zinc cash settlement, with the copper and zinc percentages derived from the contract chemistry envelope. For Honey (60% Cu / 38% Zn): quotation = 0.60 × LME Copper cash + 0.38 × LME Zinc cash, multiplied by the ISRI-grade discount percentage. For Pale (85% Cu / 5% Zn / 5% Sn / 5% Pb): the copper weight dominates and the LME Zinc weight is small; some contracts also price the tin component against LME Tin. Every Nautica quotation shows both LME reference settlements, the chemistry weighting used, the discount percentage applied and the resulting USD per metric tonne with no hidden basis.
Container loading for brass — dense loads, 20GP standard
Brass is dense (bulk density 3.5–4.5 t/m³ for solids) and always loads 20GP to stay within road-legal payload. Target net weights: Honey solid 24–26 MT, Pale solid 24–26 MT, Ocean 22–24 MT, Ebony 22–24 MT, Label 24–26 MT, Nassau drummed 18–22 MT, Nassau briquetted 22–24 MT. Because brass unit value is high, security controls match copper: ISO/PAS 17712 bolt seals, full photographic sequence, dual-witness weighbridge tickets, CCTV archive of the loading bay for 90 days. See /export-process-container-loading for the full loading protocol.
Third-party inspection and destination-country certification
Every brass container can be inspected by SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or CCIC at our Rotterdam yard. The inspector attends stuffing, verifies weights, draws a 30 kg composite sample for XRF chemistry (particularly important for brass because chemistry drives the LME blend calculation and hence contract price), verifies container number and seal, issues the pre-shipment certificate. India-bound brass requires BIS-1 since 2020; China-bound requires CCIC and additional GB/T 38470-2019 compliance for reclaimed brass; Turkey requires TSE. Buyers may nominate additional chemistry verification (composite melt-sample assay by ICP-OES at a third-party lab) for high-value long-term contracts.
EU regulatory framework for brass scrap
Brass is non-hazardous green-listed under EU Regulation (EC) 1013/2006 Annex III (Basel B1010). Non-OECD-destination shipments require Annex VII — Nautica issues Annex VII in the buyer's name for every non-OECD brass shipment. Preferential origin (EUR.1) applies to Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and South Africa. Non-preferential certificates of origin issue through the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce. Lead content in Label brass triggers no additional regulatory step within the EU export regime because it remains below hazardous-waste classification threshold, but buyers in some markets (California, EU RoHS-scoped downstream products) may require lead-content declaration for their onward compliance.
End-use industries — who buys European brass scrap
Brass rod mills in India (Wieland-Metals-India, Metaltech), Turkey (Sarbak, Tur-Bak) and China buy Honey and Pale directly for hot-rolled brass rod, brass tube and brass forging billet. Plumbing-fitting foundries in India, Turkey, UAE and Bangladesh buy Honey solids and Ocean coated for sand-cast and permanent-mould valve bodies. Cartridge-case manufacturers (military-industrial customers in the Middle East and East Asia) buy premium Honey for deep-drawn brass case production. Hardware manufacturers buy mixed grades for die-cast decorative components. Secondary brass smelters in India and China buy Ebony, Label and Nassau as feed for standard ingot production.
European sourcing map for brass
Nautica sources brass from three main European channels. Post-consumer plumbing and hardware arisings arrive from EU demolition contractors and licensed HVAC/plumbing dismantlers in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and northern France. Industrial arisings (Nassau turnings, Ebony mixed cut-offs) arrive from EU brass fabricators and screw-machine shops in Germany and Italy — the largest European centres of brass machining. Coated brass (Ocean) arrives from EU coated-fittings manufacturers as production-line rejects and end-of-line stock. Every supplier is licensed for waste handling.
Payment terms and value-at-risk controls for brass
Because brass containers carry high value per box (a 25 MT Honey container at Cu 9,500 + Zn 3,000 blended can exceed USD 150,000), payment discipline matches copper. Standard: 30% TT advance + 70% TT/LC at sight against scanned B/L. Approved buyers move to 100% LC at sight. D/A is available for buyers with 24+ months of on-time payment history. Marine cargo insurance under Institute Cargo Clauses (A) at 110% invoice value included in CIF. Chemistry disputes at destination are the single largest brass-specific contract risk — the pre-shipment SGS/BV inspection composite chemistry is contractual, and arbitration samples are retained for 6 months to resolve any post-arrival chemistry challenge.
Rotterdam as the European brass-scrap export hub
Rotterdam handles the largest concentrated brass-scrap export volume in continental Europe, with weekly direct sailings to every major destination. Nhava Sheva 18–22 days for Indian rod mills; Mundra 20–24 days; Mersin 14–18 days for Turkish rod mills; Xingang 32–38 days for Chinese refineries; Jebel Ali 20–24 days for UAE hardware manufacturers; Chittagong 25–30 days via Colombo for Bangladeshi foundries. Rotterdam terminal density and empty-container availability move brass containers same-day from stuffing to gate-in. See /rotterdam-port-operations for the full operational profile.
Downloadable specifications and technical data sheets
Every brass grade Nautica exports has a dedicated technical product page with the ISRI specification, chemistry envelope, physical form, packaging, HS code, blended LME anchor and destination-country compliance notes. The grade pages linked in the sidebar are the canonical downloadable specification — printable, buyer-shareable, always the current contract-binding version. Composite TDS packs and PDF versions for multi-grade contracts are available on request via /contact.
Side-by-side ISRI brass grade comparison — Honey vs Pale vs Ocean vs Ebony vs Label vs Nassau
The six brass ISRI grades Nautica exports differ sharply on chemistry, form and price even though they can look visually similar. Honey (#1 yellow brass) is Cu 60–65% / Zn 35–40% / Pb ≤ 0.5%, clean solids, 85–92% of blended LME Cu+Zn CIF. Pale (#1 red brass) is Cu ~85% / Zn ~5% / Sn ~5% / Pb ~5%, copper-heavy solids, 82–88% of a copper-dominated blend. Ocean (enameled brass) is Honey-equivalent chemistry with baked coatings, 82–89% (a 3–5% coating-loss discount). Ebony (mixed heavy yellow brass with attached ferrous) is yellow-brass chemistry with 5–15% attached iron/steel, 65–75% because downstream separation cost applies. Label (leaded brass, Pb 2–4%) is yellow-brass chemistry with elevated lead, 70–80% depending on the lead percentage and downstream lead-handling capability. Nassau (turnings) is yellow-brass equivalent chemistry in fine chip form with 3–5% recovery loss, 75–82% drummed or briquetted. On a blended LME of Cu 9,500 + Zn 3,000, Honey trades around USD 6,050/t, Pale around USD 6,800/t (copper-heavy), Ocean around USD 5,750/t, Ebony around USD 4,700/t, Label around USD 4,900/t, Nassau around USD 5,200/t. The 30%+ spread between Honey and Ebony on the same LME base is the reason ISRI grade discipline matters at intake.
Common impurities in brass scrap and the quality standards that police them
The five contaminants that most often trigger a brass shipment rejection are iron (from mixed hardware and pipe-fitting mounts), lead (an intentional additive in Label but a contamination in Honey/Pale), aluminum (from aluminum-bronze contamination), silicon (from silicon-bronze contamination) and coatings/residues (lacquer, plating, oil). Standards: ISRI's Scrap Specifications Circular sets physical-form baseline (Honey, Pale, Ocean, Ebony, Label, Nassau, Ephraim). EN 12163 and EN 12164 cover European brass rod and free-cutting brass chemistry that feed back into scrap contract specifications. GB/T 38470-2019 governs China imports (minimum copper content by category, impurity caps). ASTM B36/B36M and ASTM B455 cover brass sheet, plate and extruded rod chemistry benchmarks in North American trade. Nautica's brass intake protocol: XRF chemistry on 5-point sampling of every truck, magnet check for attached ferrous, oil-drain confirmation for Nassau, moisture check against 0.3% cap for solids and 0.5% for turnings, rejection of any load failing the buyer's chemistry envelope.
Packaging and bale specifications for every brass grade
Honey solids: loose stow in 20GP at 24–26 MT net with a 1.4 mm plywood bulkhead at the door to prevent load shift, no lining required. Pale solids: same protocol at 24–26 MT (Pale is slightly denser than Honey per m³). Ocean: loose stow at 22–24 MT, plywood bulkhead. Ebony: loose stow at 22–24 MT with additional door bulkhead because irregular attached-ferrous pieces can shift. Label: loose stow or bundled at 24–26 MT depending on piece size — machining stock cropped to length bundles neatly. Nassau turnings: 300 kg mild-steel drums stacked 60–70 per 20GP at 18–22 MT net, or hydraulically briquetted to 5 kg pucks stacked in 1 t supersacks at 22–24 MT. Every drum tagged with grade, lot number, tare and net; every container photographed inside at empty/quarter/half/three-quarter/full plus door-closed with seal. Cargo securing per CTU Code (2014 IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing Cargo Transport Units). See /export-process-container-loading for the full loading protocol.
Third-party inspection in detail — SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek, CCIC scope for brass
Brass inspection at Rotterdam follows the same four-agency framework as copper. SGS Rotterdam Botlek office is the volume default — grade verification, weight verification, XRF chemistry on 5-point composite, physical form check, seal verification, Certificate of Weight, Quality and Sampling. Bureau Veritas Rotterdam covers the same scope with BV's specific strength in destination-country certification (BIS-approved for India, AQSIQ credentials for China, TSE-recognised for Turkey). Intertek Rotterdam is the chemistry-critical choice with its Botlek laboratory ICP-OES capability for buyers who want composite melt-sample assay verified beyond XRF. CCIC (China Certification & Inspection Group) is mandatory for many China-bound brass cargoes under GB/T 38470-2019 — CCIC attends stuffing, verifies grade, drafts the CCIC certificate and lodges it with China Customs pre-arrival. Standard turnaround 24–72 hours for SGS/BV/Intertek, 48–96 hours for CCIC. Fees USD 350–700 per container band, either paid by buyer directly or passed through at cost in CIF pricing.
Export documentation checklist for every brass shipment
Every Nautica brass container ships with a fixed 11-document pack: (1) Commercial invoice showing both LME Copper and LME Zinc dates and the chemistry weighting used to build price; (2) Packing list itemising bundle/drum count, gross/tare/net, ISRI grade and seal number; (3) Bill of lading; (4) Certificate of origin — non-preferential CoO from the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce, or preferential EUR.1 for Turkey / Egypt / Morocco / South Africa; (5) Annex VII movement document under EU Regulation 1013/2006 in the buyer's name for every non-OECD destination; (6) Pre-shipment inspection certificate from SGS/BV/Intertek/CCIC; (7) Composite chemistry summary (XRF five-point plus optional ICP-OES for high-value contracts); (8) Container-interior photograph pack; (9) Weighbridge tickets (in and out); (10) High-security ISO/PAS 17712 bolt seal number confirmation; (11) BIS-1 certificate for India, CCIC for China, TSE for Turkey. Documents scan-out within 24 hours of loading, originals courier within 3 working days. Lead-content declaration is added for Label brass consignments to jurisdictions that require it for downstream RoHS compliance.
Logistics from Rotterdam — transit times to India, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan, Turkey, the Middle East
Weekly direct or one-transhipment sailings from Rotterdam to every brass-buying destination worldwide. Rotterdam–Nhava Sheva 18–22 days direct on Maersk / MSC / CMA CGM / ONE. Rotterdam–Mundra 20–24 days. Rotterdam–Chennai 21–25 days. Rotterdam–Shanghai 30–34 days. Rotterdam–Xingang 32–38 days. Rotterdam–Ningbo 30–34 days. Rotterdam–Busan 32–36 days via Singapore. Rotterdam–Ho Chi Minh City 28–33 days. Rotterdam–Haiphong 30–35 days. Rotterdam–Karachi 18–22 days. Rotterdam–Port Qasim 19–23 days. Rotterdam–Mersin 14–18 days on Mediterranean rotation. Rotterdam–Aliaga 12–16 days. Rotterdam–Jebel Ali 20–24 days. Rotterdam–Sohar 22–26 days. Rotterdam–Dammam 22–26 days. Rotterdam–Alexandria 12–16 days. Rotterdam–Chittagong 25–30 days via Colombo. Brass containers are handled identically to copper — priority slot allocation, high-security seals and full photographic documentation from the same trusted freight forwarders. See /rotterdam-port-operations and /export-process-shipping-logistics for full sailing schedules and cost bases.
LME pricing factors specific to brass — a two-metal blend
Brass has no dedicated LME contract, so contract price is a chemistry-weighted blend of LME Copper Grade A cash and LME Zinc cash — meaning a brass buyer tracks two LME markets simultaneously. Copper (60% of Honey chemistry, 85% of Pale) is the dominant driver; the LME Copper factors discussed on the copper pillar page apply directly. Zinc (38% of Honey chemistry, 5% of Pale) is a smaller but non-trivial driver — LME Zinc responds primarily to Chinese galvanised-steel demand, refined zinc capacity utilisation in China and India, and mine supply disruptions from Peru, Australia and Bolivia. When LME Zinc rallies against LME Copper (a wider Cu/Zn ratio compression), Honey rises faster than Pale; when Copper rallies harder than Zinc, Pale rises faster than Honey. Sophisticated brass buyers time RFQs against the Cu/Zn spread — asking Nautica for quotes on the day the blend index favours their downstream alloy. Nautica's quotations always cite both LME cash settlement dates and the exact blend weighting so the buyer sees the calculation transparently.
China, South Korea and India — the three biggest brass buyer markets in detail
The three largest destinations for Rotterdam-loaded brass scrap are China, India and (to a smaller extent) South Korea and Turkey. China accepts brass scrap under GB/T 38470-2019 — Honey and Pale comfortably meet the standard; Ocean, Ebony and Nassau require case-by-case pre-approval with the specific consignee. Chinese buyers include Ningbo Jintian, Zhejiang Hailiang and dozens of Guangdong-based brass rod mills; containers typically discharge at Ningbo, Shanghai or Guangzhou. India is the largest single-country destination — Sanghvi Copper, Bhagwati Metals, Metal Rolling Mills and hundreds of Jamnagar-based small brass foundries import Honey, Pale and Nassau. BIS-1 pre-shipment inspection is mandatory since 2020 for all non-ferrous scrap; the invoice must show the Indian IEC and consignee GST number. South Korea (Poongsan and specialty brass rod mills at Ulsan and Busan) takes smaller volumes of premium Honey on monthly LME-average pricing and 100% LC at sight. Turkey (Sarbak, Tur-Bak, Erbakır) at Aliaga and Mersin takes Honey and Pale on 14–18 day transits with EUR.1 preferential origin certification eliminating Turkish import duty.