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Term	Definition
B.O.F.	The abbreviation of "basic oxygen furnace." There are a number of pieces of steelmaking equipment which are essentially designed from the same original plan. These are the B.O.F., B.O.P. (basic oxygen practice), the "Q-B.O.P." a refinement of the B.O.P., the "L.D.," standing for Linz-Donowitz furnace and the "SK" or Stora-Kaldo furnace which is similar to all the above with the exception that it is designed to rotate at an angle. All the above pieces of equipment are operated on essentially the same basic melting principle in which oxygen is introduced into the molten mass and the furious activity that takes place serves to heat and refine the elements included.
Back-to-Back	In our business if we sell and buy "back-to-back" we mean the material which we have purchased and the material which we have sold is intended to be the same identical material and the conditions of the contract insofar as tonnage, shipping time, grading, and all other matters, except for price and terms are the same. Back-to-back contracts, both the sale and purchase, have identical cancellation dates. Back-to-back contracts "cancel each other out" as far as position is concerned.
Backing	This term is usually referred to in the bidding on industrial or railroad scrap in which a consumer has advised its broker that should he purchase a certain quantity of a given time, that they would in turn purchase same from him. Usually this backing also involves the price, shipping time, and other pertinent details. Care should be taken in bidding so that if we have backing it is clearly understood what our privileges and obligations are to the consumer should we purchase the material. Frequently these obligations will change from month to month, from grade to grade, consumer to consumer (see "Bid For").
Backwardation	Market condition where the spot, or current price for a metal is higher than the three-month delivery price. This usually indicates immediate demand is perceived to be stronger than long-term demand. Not considered to be a "normal" market state (See Contango).
Bad Order	This term is used in two ways in our industry. One way describes a railroad car or truck, or other piece of equipment used for conveying scrap, to describe the fact that it was not able to be used to transport the material as had been planned originally. Bad order railroad cars frequently cause us trouble because they are often shopped by the railroad in a repair station and delayed in transit for quite some period of time. Often, cars that are bad-ordered are thought to be lost, but later we learn that they had been set aside at a repair shop. The other meaning of the term for "bad-order" implies that we have made sale expecting to make a profit on it, but found out that our judgment of the market was in error and what we thought would be a "good" order turned out to be a "bad" one.
Bale-A-Shear/Slabber	A piece of equipment which compresses light-gauge material such as auto body stock into a flat slab and then proceeds to slice it into various lengths usually 2 or 3 ft. Scrap originating from this piece of equipment does not have widespread acceptance in the melting industry generally due to its lack of density and failure to hold together well. There are certain consumers, however, who find the material satisfactory under most market conditions.
Baler	A hydraulic baling press.
Ballast	Small pieces of steel which can be packed together densely and are used for adding weights to cranes, machinery, etc.
Bargeload	A term which should be carefully used and should always be preceded or followed by an estimated quantity, stated in tons.
Bars	Long steel products that are rolled from billets. Merchant bar and reinforcing bar (rebar) are two common categories of bars, where merchants include rounds, flats, angles, squares, and channels that are used by fabricators to manufacture a wide variety of products such as furniture, stair railings, and farm equipment. Rebar is used to strengthen concrete in highways, bridges and buildings (see Sheet Steel).


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