Mill Scale is formed during the steel making process as a means of providing a protective coating on hot rolled steel. During further processing the scale has to be removed and this process creates flakes of iron oxide. It is these flakes of Mill Scale that are being increasingly traded as a bulk cargo. While Mill Scale is deliberately formed in steel mills, it is treated as a waste product once it has been flaked off. Recycling this product has become possible due to changes in iron production methods as it can be mixed with other iron sources in smelters as well as with lower grade ores prior to shipping.