Your carbide has a number in Chandigarh.
We show you how we get it.
The tricity's engineering belt — Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula — runs constant machining, forging and precision-tooling work. Most buyers quote a flat rate off a WhatsApp photo. We weigh it in front of you, grade it by carbide content, and show the math before you agree to sell.
What actually sets your price
Not a slogan — the three variables that move the number up or down before we ever quote you one.
Solid vs. mixed lots
An indexable insert or solid forming punch is close to pure tungsten carbide and prices near the top of the range. Grinding sludge and mixed floor-sweep from a tool room run lower — we price that as its own lot rather than blending it into your clean material's rate.
The metal holding it together
Cutting-grade carbide typically carries 6–12% cobalt as a binder. Cobalt trades on its own market, so the binder ratio genuinely changes what a lot is worth — a forging die doesn't price the same as a fine finishing insert.
Steel shanks, dies and mountings
Brazed tooling — a carbide tip fixed to a steel shank, die body or holder — gets weighed whole, then separated on-site so the recoverable carbide is priced on its own. We show that split before you agree to a number.
Why the rate changes week to week
Tungsten carbide isn't priced off a fixed scrap-yard rate card. The tungsten in your inserts and dies trades on its own international market, tracked through tungsten concentrate and APT (ammonium paratungstate) prices — the same benchmarks WolfTrack's Indian Tungsten Transaction Price Index follows every week. We reassess our buying rate against that market, not against what a scrap yard down the road is offering.
Know what's in your bin before you WhatsApp
Carbide behaves differently from ordinary steel scrap — here's what to look for, and the common forms we buy.
| Typical density | ~14–15 g/cm³ |
| Feel | Heavier than its size suggests |
| Magnetic response | Weak to slight |
| Colour | Grey to grey-black, matte |
| Common binder | Cobalt, ~6–12% by grade |
- Indexable inserts & tipsHighest per-kg value in a mixed lot.
- Solid carbide rods, drills & end millsFull-carbide, no separation needed.
- Forging & press-tool diesCarbide-tipped punches from Mohali's Focal Point precision units, typically brazed — separated on-site.
- Brazed tool bits & die insertsSeparated on-site before either portion is weighed.
HSS (High Speed Steel) tool scrap
Not everything worn out in your tool room is carbide. High Speed Steel tooling is a different alloy family entirely — fully magnetic, no tungsten-carbide/cobalt binder — and it's priced against its own tool-steel and alloy content, not the tungsten carbide rate. We buy both, graded and priced separately on the same visit.
- M2General-purpose HSS — drills, taps, milling cutters.
- M35Cobalt-enhanced (~5% Co) for tougher jobs.
- M42High-cobalt (~8% Co), heat resistant.
- T15Tungsten-type, high vanadium, heavy-duty broaches.
- Drill bits, taps & reamersBroken or worn-out sets — most common lot.
- Milling cutters & hobsSolid HSS or carbide-tipped — sorted and priced.
- Lathe & planer tool bitsSolid HSS blanks, ground or unground.
A quick way to tell them apart before you WhatsApp: HSS responds strongly to a magnet and sounds like ordinary steel when tapped; carbide is only weakly magnetic and feels noticeably heavier for its size, with a duller, denser tap. Bring both — we sort and price each on-site.
Where we pick up in Chandigarh, and why
The tricity's industrial base runs from Chandigarh's original engineering estates through Mohali's dense precision-machining phases to Panchkula's auto-parts belt — each pocket feeds a different kind of scrap.
Chandigarh's original engineering belt, spread across 846 developed plots in Phase I and 1,120 in Phase II. Historically anchored by Hindustan Machine Tools and Punjab Tractors, the zone still runs auto-component, tractor-parts and general engineering fabrication. Basic-metal and fabricated-metal-product units are the largest registered categories here — exactly the lathe, milling and grinding operations that wear through carbide inserts and HSS tooling.
The tricity's densest precision-manufacturing pocket — roughly 1,190 acres and 1,145 production units across these phases. Home to Mohali's dedicated Advanced Machining Tool Cluster (auto precision-parts machining, ~50 units) plus a Hitech Metal Cluster running fabrication lines. This is the tricity's single richest source of carbide-insert and HSS turning/milling scrap.
A 135-acre estate with roughly 73 active production units on the Chandigarh–Ambala corridor, built around forging and auto/tractor-component work. Forging-fed downstream machining generates solid carbide and HSS tool waste at meaningfully higher volume per unit than lighter fabrication work.
Panchkula's core estate, with 402 plots and 356 production units in Phase I and 432 plots and 373 units in Phase II. Engineering units are the largest registered category district-wide, ahead of metal fabrication — auto/tractor-parts and machine-tool production here generates regular carbide and tool-steel offcuts.
A dedicated auto-parts cluster of roughly 305 functional units producing machine parts and automobile/tractor components, overlapping the 335-plot, 201-unit Barwala estate on the Kalka–Barwala road. Per-unit volume runs lower than Mohali's Focal Point phases, but steady enough to be a reliable secondary pickup route.
The newest industrial township absorbing overflow from Mohali and Derabassi, further south along NH-7. Plots are still filling; per-unit volume is lower for now, but it's a belt worth tracking as machining and fabrication tenants move in.
Why sell here instead of shipping it out of Chandigarh
Carbide scrap is dense and low-volume for its value, which makes an out-of-town dealer's quoted rate look tempting on paper. In practice, three things usually erase that difference: transport cost and risk on a dense material that's easy to shortweight in transit, a re-weighing dispute at the far end with no way to verify it, and the days lost waiting on payment. Weighed and paid on your premises removes all three.
Four steps, one visit
Before you WhatsApp
What's the minimum quantity you buy in Chandigarh?
50 kg minimum for pickup in Chandigarh. Smaller lots are best shipped directly — ask us on WhatsApp for the courier option.
How is the rate decided on the day?
Off the current tungsten/cobalt market plus your lot's actual grade — weighed and shown to you before you agree, not a flat number quoted off a photo.
Do you pick up, or do I need to ship it?
Free pickup for lots at or above the 50 kg minimum anywhere in Chandigarh. Below that, courier to us directly — ask on WhatsApp for the easiest way.
WolfTrack — India's tungsten price desk
If you're buying or trading carbide and tungsten scrap in volume rather than selling it off once, WolfTrack's weekly brief and the Indian Tungsten Transaction Price Index track the market before it moves. Rs 499 per month.
See this week's brief →Carbide Scrap Buyers — Chandigarh Tricity · Prices are indicative and confirmed on weighing — WhatsApp for today's rate.