A practical 10-point checklist for importers: verify the seller, protect your payment, specify the steel, and inspect before you pay the balance.

Most losses on steel bought from China are not bad luck. They follow a few patterns that repeat again and again, and each step below closes one of them. None of the steps is expensive. Together they decide whether you receive the steel you paid for.

The scams that keep repeating

• The price that is too good. An offer far below the market is where most losses start. What arrives is thinner, lighter, a lower grade, or nothing at all.
• The wrong bank account. The seller asks you to pay a personal account, or an email arrives saying the bank details have changed.
• The company that is not who it says it is. A website and a few photos cost almost nothing. A registered company that signs the contract in its own name is harder to fake.
• Paper that does not match the steel. A certificate copied from another shipment, or heat numbers that do not match the coils.

The checklist

1. Know exactly who you are buying from

Ask for the full registered company name and its Unified Social Credit Code, the 18-character number printed on every Chinese business licence. Check both on China's official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn). The company should be active, and its registered business scope should cover what it is selling you. The name on your contract and on your invoice must be this same company.

2. Trader or mill: ask, and expect a straight answer

Much of China's export steel is sold by traders, and a good trader is often the better choice: a trader can combine sizes from several mills and handle the export paperwork. What matters is honesty. A trader who claims to be a mill is a warning sign. Ask which mill the material comes from, and whether the mill test certificate will carry that mill's name.

3. Contract first, money second

Do not pay anything before you have a signed sales contract that states the product, standard, grade, sizes, tolerances, quantity, price, Incoterm, delivery time, inspection and payment terms. The account name on the bank details must be exactly the seller named on the contract. Never pay a personal account.

4. Treat any change of bank details as an alarm

A "new bank account" email is the most common way payments are stolen, because email accounts get hacked. If you receive new bank details, stop. Call or video-call your contact on a number you already had, not one taken from the same email, and confirm before you pay anything. How this scam works, with real court cases, is in our scam alerts.

5. Ask for a price breakdown, not just a number

A serious quotation can explain itself: base price, size or grade extras, coating, packing, inland freight, ocean freight and insurance. If one offer is far below the others, ask which of these items is missing. A price that cannot be explained usually means a thinner gauge, a lower grade, a lighter coating or short weight.

6. Write the specification down precisely

Disputes start where the order is vague. State the standard (for example ASTM, EN, JIS or GB) and the grade, thickness and width with tolerances, the coating mass for galvanized or coated products (for example Z275 or AZ150), surface treatment, coil weight and inner diameter, packing and marking. Then "standard quality" or "as per sample" can never be used against you.

7. Check the mill test certificate against the material

Ask for a mill test certificate of type 3.1 under EN 10204, issued by the producing mill. The heat or batch numbers on the certificate must match the numbers marked on the coils, bundles or plates. If in doubt, ask your inspector to photograph the markings next to the certificate, or ask the mill to confirm the certificate number.

8. Inspect before loading, with an inspector you choose

Independent inspection before loading is the best protection you can buy. Choose the inspection company yourself (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or any third party you trust) and agree in the contract what they will check: quantity and weight, dimensions and tolerances, coating, surface, marking and packing, and chemical or mechanical tests where needed. Get the report before the goods leave the warehouse.

9. Keep your leverage in the payment terms

With a new supplier, avoid paying 100% in advance. Two common structures keep you protected:

A bigger deposit does not make a better supplier.

10. Start small, and check your import duties first

Place a trial order before a large one. Before you buy, check the import duties for your product's HS code in your own country: several countries apply anti-dumping or safeguard duties to some steel products from China, and they can change your landed cost completely. Keep every agreement in writing.

How it works when your contract is with SinoAli

• Your sales contract and commercial invoice are issued by Sinoali (Shandong) Supply Chain Co., Ltd., a registered Chinese company, and SinoAli is your seller.
• You pay the deposit (usually 30%) only to the SinoAli company bank account named in your contract. SinoAli will never ask you to pay a personal account.
• You choose the inspection company. We send you the inspection report before loading, and you pay the balance only after you have seen it. Letter of Credit (L/C) at sight is also accepted.
• If the goods fail inspection, they are not shipped. We arrange replacement goods and a new inspection. If the replacement still fails, we refund your full deposit within 7 working days, to the account it was paid from.

Full details: Secure Payment via SinoAli Contract

Have a quotation you want to check against this list? Send us your specification. We reply within 1 working day.

More guides and scam alerts: Buyer guides · Scam alerts

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