GCX Exchange
Notes from the physical metals market
How the exchange matches orders, how a deal is priced and delivered, and what is moving in the market — written for people who trade metal, not for search engines.
What we write about
Ten sections. Each one is where a question actually comes up in a deal or in working with metal, not where a keyword happens to sit.
- Grades and materials17 articles
- Weight and calculation5 articles
- Standards5 articles
- Machining5 articles
- Applications6 articles
- Customs and HS codes12 articles
- Logistics and delivery6 articles
- Exchange and deals6 articles
- Market4 articles
- Buying and selling6 articles
Articles
Duties and anti-dumping on stainless steel
How the HS code determines the duty on stainless steel, what anti-dumping measures are and how to verify the classification before a trade.
Grinding and polishing: how to get a mirror
Types of stainless steel finishes, abrasive steps and the difference between №4 and a mirror. How to grind and polish without spoiling the surface or introducing corrosion.
Why stainless steel rusts and what to do about it
Stainless steel rusts when the passive film is destroyed: chlorides, stagnation, welding, foreign iron. Causes, what to do and when another grade is needed.
Food-grade stainless steel: grades and requirements
Which stainless steel grades count as food-grade, how 304 and 316 differ, which finishes are needed and why scale is more dangerous than the grade.
How to convert metres and m² into tonnes
Stainless steel weight of 1 m², converting metres of pipe and m² of sheet into tonnes: formulas, tables by thickness and size, reverse conversion of tonnes into a length in metres.
Passivation and pickling of stainless steel
Why stainless steel is passivated, what is used to pickle weld seams, how the result is checked and when surface treatment cannot be avoided.
Stainless steel market overview: prices, demand, imports
A stainless steel market overview without figures and forecasts: which factors move prices, how to read quotations and spot, and how a long-term contract differs from spot purchasing.
Processing stainless steel: cutting, bending, welding, polishing
Which operations are needed when processing stainless steel: cutting, bending, welding, drilling 12Х18Н10Т and surface finishing. What is critical and how to choose a contractor.
Stainless steel in construction and architecture
Which stainless steel grades to use in construction: 304 outdoors, 201 and 430 indoors, the choice of surface finish and the rules for selecting fasteners.
Stainless steel in medicine and pharma
How medical steel differs from stainless steel, which grades are used in medicine and pharma, why electropolishing is needed and what validation confirms.