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Scrap iron & steel prices

Iron and steel are the lowest-value scrap by weight, but they make up the bulk of most clearances and demolition loads. Volume is what makes ferrous worth handling. These are today’s live per-kilo rates by grade.

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Iron scrap prices by grade

All 9 Iron grades, highest first.

Scrap iron prices per kilo
GradePrice per kgChange
Frag Feed£0.18—
HMS 1/2£0.17—
Constructional£0.16—
Cuts£0.16—
O/A£0.14—
Shearing£0.12—
Baled Cars£0.12—
Cast Iron£0.10—
Brake Discs£0.10—

What moves the iron price

Ferrous scrap does not track an LME contract the way copper and aluminium do. It is priced off steel mill and foundry demand, and off export shipments from UK ports, so it moves in slower, larger steps rather than daily.

Construction and manufacturing output drive it. When mills are busy, they compete for feedstock and prices firm; when order books thin, ferrous is usually the first grade to fall.

Haulage is a bigger share of the economics than in any other metal. At these price levels, moving a tonne costs a meaningful fraction of what the tonne is worth, so distance to the nearest processor genuinely affects what you are offered.

Understanding iron grades

HMS 1/2 is the standard heavy melting grade — thick steel over roughly 6mm such as beams, plate, machinery frames and axles. It melts efficiently with little burn-off, so it sits at the top of the ferrous table alongside frag feed.

Frag feed is material destined for a fragmentiser: mixed light and medium steel that gets shredded and separated mechanically.

Constructional, cuts and shearing cover progressively lighter and more mixed steel — sheet, panels, appliance bodies and thin tube. More surface area means more oxidation and melt loss, so they price below HMS.

Cast iron is graded on its own because foundries buy it specifically: baths, radiators, engine blocks, manhole covers and old cookware. Baled cars and brake discs are likewise priced as their own grades.

Getting a better price for your iron

  • Separate heavy steel from light. Sorting into two piles takes minutes and the grades pay differently.
  • Strip out non-ferrous before weighing in as ferrous — copper motor windings and brass fittings inside an appliance are worth many times the steel around them.
  • Build a worthwhile load before you travel. At ferrous prices, fuel and time dominate the economics of a small load.
  • A magnet is the whole test: if it sticks, it is ferrous; if it does not, sort it out and sell it separately for far more.

Scrap iron price questions

Everything you need to know about the product and billing.

Ferrous scrap trades in pence per kilo rather than pounds — the live table above shows today’s exact rates by grade. That is why ferrous is a volume business: a single domestic appliance is worth very little, while a tonne of HMS is worth collecting.

Thickness. HMS 1/2 — heavy melting steel — is roughly 6mm and above: beams, plate, thick machinery sections. Grades like cuts and shearing are thin sheet, panels and tube. Heavier steel melts with less oxidation loss, so mills pay more for it. Sorting the two is one of the easiest ways to lift the value of a mixed load.

It is graded separately rather than being straightforwardly worth more, and the rates move independently — foundries buy cast for specific melts. Check the live table for today’s spread. Either way, keep cast separate rather than mixing it into general ferrous.

Washing machines and cookers, yes — they are mostly light iron, and the motor contains copper worth separating out. Fridges and freezers are different: they contain regulated refrigerant gases and must be processed by a licensed facility, so most yards will not take them as ordinary scrap.

Our iron prices are refreshed every trading day. Scrap prices track the underlying metal on the London Metal Exchange, which moves continuously, so a price quoted a week ago is rarely the price you will be paid today. Always check on the day you plan to sell.

The prices here are the rates buyers on ScrapBays are paying for clean, correctly sorted material. If your load is mixed, contaminated, still attached to other materials, or below a buyer's minimum weight, it will be graded down. Sorting and cleaning before you sell is the single biggest thing in your control.

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