Scrap metal prices are set by working down from a benchmark. For copper, aluminum, lead and zinc the benchmark is the exchange price; for steel it is the price the nearest mill publishes. A recycler pays a percentage of that benchmark by grade, and a yard then subtracts freight, processing and its margin to reach the figure on its board.
Scrap Price Today editorial guide, checked against current exchange settlements, recycler grade specifications and mill buying programs. Figures are examples; today's prices are on the live scrap price board.
That single sentence explains most of what you see at a scale. The rest of this guide walks through each layer, with the numbers that separate a fair quote from a poor one.
The benchmark: exchange or mill
Copper, aluminum, lead, zinc and nickel trade every day on the London Metal Exchange and, for copper, on COMEX in New York. Their settlement prices are the starting point for every non-ferrous scrap quote in the world, converted into local currency and units.
Steel has no exchange. Its benchmark is the buying price a mill announces for delivered scrap, and in the export trade it is the price Turkish mills pay for imported heavy melting scrap in US dollars per tonne.
The grade percentage
A smelter never pays the full exchange price for scrap, because scrap has to be sorted, melted and refined. The discount depends on grade, and the grades are defined in the Recycled Materials Association specifications that most buyers work from.
Bare bright copper typically sells to a refiner at 95 to 98 percent of exchange. Number 2 copper with solder and oxidation fetches around 85 to 90 percent. Mixed aluminum castings recover far less because of alloying elements and furnace losses.
The yard's deductions
Between your load and the smelter sit trucks or containers, a baler or shear, labour and the yard's profit. A yard near a port or a mill has low freight and can pay more; a remote yard cannot.
Processing is why insulated wire pays less than the copper inside it. Stripping or granulating is the yard's cost, so it is priced in before you are quoted.
Copper, aluminum and steel side by side
| Copper | Aluminum | Steel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measurement | Price per lb or kg | Price per lb or kg | Price per ton or tonne |
| Benchmark | LME and COMEX settlement | LME settlement | Mill buying price, Turkish import price |
| Typical yard share of benchmark | 80 to 92 percent for clean grades | 50 to 75 percent by alloy | Mill price less freight and margin |
| What moves it fastest | US dollar, Chinese demand | Energy costs, alloy demand | Mill programs, export bids |
| Where prices are highest | Near refiners and export ports | Near secondary smelters | Near electric arc furnace mills |
A worked copper example
Suppose copper settles at 4.20 US dollars a pound. A refiner pays a large processor 95 percent for bare bright, or 3.99. The processor pays a local yard about 3.85, and the yard pays the public 3.55 to 3.70 depending on volume and competition.
Each step is small. Together they explain why the yard board says 3.60 when the news says 4.20, and why Scrap Price Today shows the reference price next to the indicative yard price rather than one or the other.
Why ferrous behaves differently
Steel scrap is worth a fraction of copper per pound, so it is priced by the ton and by the mill that will melt it. Mills publish prices for heavy melting steel, plate and structural, shredded and busheling, and reset them monthly or when export bids move.
Yards price backwards from the mill: mill price, less freight, less processing, less margin. That is why steel near the mills of Ohio or northern Italy pays more than steel on a coast with no mill, and why importing markets such as Bangladesh and Turkey track delivered import costs instead.
Key numbers
- Copper, aluminum, lead, zinc and nickel are priced continuously on the LME; copper also trades on COMEX, and both feed every scrap board (London Metal Exchange).
- Clean copper grades typically recover 85 to 98 percent of the exchange price at the refinery, depending on grade (ReMA specifications and published refiner formulas).
- Turkey is the largest importer of ferrous scrap in the world, taking roughly 20 million tonnes a year, which makes its import price the global ferrous benchmark (Bureau of International Recycling).
- Recycled steel supplies about a third of world steel output through electric arc furnaces, the mills that set most scrap buying prices (World Steel Association).
Reading any price board
- Find the benchmark in your currency and unit on the live board.
- Identify the grade you are holding.
- Apply the published recovery for that grade.
- Allow 5 to 15 percent for freight and margin, more for a remote yard.
- If the quote sits inside that range it is fair; if it sits far below, ask why or drive further.
The country pages run the same logic in kilograms, tonnes and local currency, and the how yards calculate prices guide covers the deductions applied at the scale.
Questions people ask
Why is the yard paying less than the copper price I saw on the news?
The news quotes the exchange price for refined copper. Scrap is bought at a percentage of that price by grade, and the yard subtracts freight, processing and margin, so a board price 10 to 20 percent under the exchange is normal for clean grades.
Do all yards use the same formula?
The structure is the same everywhere, benchmark less recovery less costs, but the numbers differ. A yard near an export dock or a mill has lower freight and a different buyer, so it can pay more for the same grade than a yard inland.
How often do yard prices change?
Non-ferrous boards move within a day or two of a large exchange move and more slowly on small drift. Ferrous prices usually step once a month when mills reset buying programs, or sooner when export bids move sharply.
Common mistakes
- Comparing a yard quote with the exchange price instead of with the recovery for your grade.
- Bringing a mixed load and expecting the top grade price for all of it.
- Ignoring freight: a yard 300 miles from a mill cannot match one next door.
- Assuming steel and copper move together; they follow different benchmarks.
- Checking the price after selling rather than the morning of the sale.
Sources and further reading
- London Metal Exchange: settlement prices for copper, aluminum, lead, zinc and nickel
- Recycled Materials Association: scrap grade specifications used by buyers worldwide
- World Steel Association: data on electric arc furnace output and scrap use
Related guides
- How Scrap Yards Calculate Prices: Margins, contamination deductions, moisture and tare between the market price and your receipt.
- Why Scrap Prices Change Every Day: Commodity markets, exchange rates, freight and mill demand all move the daily number.
- Copper Scrap Grades Explained: Bare bright, number 1, number 2, insulated wire and mixed copper, and why each pays differently.
Check today's numbers before you sell: the scrap price board, the price charts, the scrap value calculator and local rates on our scrap prices by country pages.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the yard paying less than the copper price I saw on the news?
The news quotes the exchange price for refined copper. Scrap is bought at a percentage of that price by grade, and the yard subtracts freight, processing and margin, so a board price 10 to 20 percent under the exchange is normal for clean grades.
Do all yards use the same formula?
The structure is the same everywhere, benchmark less recovery less costs, but the numbers differ. A yard near an export dock or a mill has lower freight and a different buyer, so it can pay more for the same grade than a yard inland.
How often do yard prices change?
Non-ferrous boards move within a day or two of a large exchange move and more slowly on small drift. Ferrous prices usually step once a month when mills reset buying programs, or sooner when export bids move sharply.