Today’s scrap metal prices

They are the rates being paid for clean, correctly sorted material at reasonable volume. What you are offered depends on the grade, condition and weight of your specific load, and on where you are. Mixed or contaminated material is graded down. Listing on ScrapBays lets verified buyers bid on your actual load, so you see real offers rather than an indicative rate.

Yards differ in haulage costs to the nearest processor, in the volumes they handle, in what they are currently short of, and in their own margins. That is precisely why it pays to compare rather than taking the first offer from the nearest yard.

Yes. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 prohibits dealers from paying cash for scrap. Payment must be by bank transfer or cheque, and every seller must produce photographic ID. A buyer offering cash is operating outside the law, which should tell you something about the rest of their operation.

No — you do not need a licence to sell scrap that is genuinely yours, such as material from your own home or business. A licence is required to trade as a scrap metal dealer, meaning buying and selling scrap commercially. You will still need photographic ID to complete any sale.

Of the commonly encountered metals, copper is consistently the most valuable per kilo, with clean bright wire at the top of the grade table. Brass and bronze follow, then stainless steel, aluminium and lead, with iron and steel lowest by weight. The live prices above show the current spread across all of them.