New Zealand scrap steel

Hi everyone, I'm looking for scrap steel in New Zealand. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about where I could get some sizeable pieces of scrap steel - I'm thinking industrial off-cuts, heavy machinery, railway rails, etc. I haven't been able to find any typical junkyards here, where you pay an entry fee and walk around and pick stuff out. Instead everywhere seems to be a "scrap metal dealer" but they never mention anything about selling to the public; just buying from the public. I'm not sure if they'd have what I'm after, if they'd even sell it to me and if it would be a reasonable price. I was hoping to find a cheap source of scrap metal, but haven't had any luck so far. Any ideas?

are you looking for metal to use or metal to sell as scrap?

Originally Posted by MarkK

Hi everyone, I'm looking for scrap steel in New Zealand. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about where I could get some sizeable pieces of scrap steel - I'm thinking industrial off-cuts, heavy machinery, railway rails, etc. I haven't been able to find any typical junkyards here, where you pay an entry fee and walk around and pick stuff out. Instead everywhere seems to be a "scrap metal dealer" but they never mention anything about selling to the public; just buying from the public. I'm not sure if they'd have what I'm after, if they'd even sell it to me and if it would be a reasonable price. I was hoping to find a cheap source of scrap metal, but haven't had any luck so far. Any ideas?

Are you a newbie? NZ, Australia, US or anywhere, you source your stuff by going directly to those who have the steel you are looking for. In your case, it looks like industrial areas and local rail authorities are where you would start. Hope that helps.

You cant be from NZ if you were expecting "junkyards" here. Because of our government O.S.H rules regarding public safety and liability, you will have to first convince the owners of the yards that you arent going to get hurt while scavenging through the piles and bins. Scrap business owners dont want to have their yards shut down because of people getting hurt in them (our government holds the business owner liable if someone hurts themselves on their business premises)

I know there is a company in Onehunga Auckland that sells industrial offcuts and surplus of all kinds. the address is 19 hill st Onehunga, I cant remember the name exactly but it has the word "blue" in the companies name

Silversurfer has it right too, targeting the manufacturers and paying them scrap rates for their surplus would be the cheapest way to source decent volumes

Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

are you looking for metal to use or metal to sell as scrap?

Looking for metal to use.

Originally Posted by silversurfer

Are you a newbie? NZ, Australia, US or anywhere, you source your stuff by going directly to those who have the steel you are looking for. In your case, it looks like industrial areas and local rail authorities are where you would start. Hope that helps.

Yep, I'm very new to this. Normally I just buy the steel I want, but I've just moved countries and I'm short on money. So, are you saying I should just go to various industrial sites and ask if they have any scrap? Surely they would rather sell it than give it away? Or do they normally sell direct to the public too? Sorry, I really am new to this!

Originally Posted by snapperhead

You cant be from NZ if you were expecting "junkyards" here. Because of our government O.S.H rules regarding public safety and liability, you will have to first convince the owners of the yards that you arent going to get hurt while scavenging through the piles and bins. Scrap business owners dont want to have their yards shut down because of people getting hurt in them (our government holds the business owner liable if someone hurts themselves on their business premises)

I know there is a company in Onehunga Auckland that sells industrial offcuts and surplus of all kinds. the address is 19 hill st Onehunga, I cant remember the name exactly but it has the word "blue" in the companies name

Silversurfer has it right too, targeting the manufacturers and paying them scrap rates for their surplus would be the cheapest way to source decent volumes

Yeah, I just moved here about 5 months ago. Have been busy just trying to stay on my feet and now I've settled in a little bit, I thought I might start up my hobby machine shop again. It sucks that the OHS laws prevent true junkyards from operating. Thanks for the address - I'll look into it and see what I can get. I guess I'll try asking around at manufacturers too.

I'm not sure about the laws in NZ, but it might make it easier if you register as a business, kind of like a DBA in the US.

Smaller companies may be more willing to work with you.

Offering slighly more than scrap prices may help out.

there are junk yards around in auckland .
scrap yards can and offend, do sell to the public.some will not let you walk around due to osh, but you can pick out items that you may want.
its hard to give you info unless you could some idea what the metal is for.
i have shops,scrap yards, dumps, recycling yards i go to for items

Scrapmetal yards in NZ do not normally sell to the public.

They would have to obtain a 'second hand dealers license' to sell metal to the public in general.
Then they would have to abide the second hand dealers rules & keep everything they buy aside for a month so the Police can have a look at it, before they could then sell whatever they are selling.

Imagine keeping all of your metal aside for a month? Just so some cops can have a look at it. wow. (though I think the SMD'rs do have to keep certain copper stuff aside untill the police can see it, if they want to.)