Scrap stainless steel prices

What moves the stainless steel price

Nickel is what you are really being paid for. The common 300-series grades contain around 8 to 10% nickel, and nickel is an expensive, volatile metal — so stainless prices swing with the LME nickel contract more than with steel.

Chromium content sets the floor beneath that. Even nickel-free 400-series stainless carries chromium, which is why it still outperforms ordinary carbon steel while sitting well below 18/8 or 316.

Because grade determines price so heavily, buyers routinely test incoming material with a handheld analyser rather than taking a seller’s word for it.

Understanding stainless steel grades

18/8 is the workhorse grade — roughly 18% chromium and 8% nickel, the composition sold elsewhere as 304. It covers sinks, catering equipment, splashbacks and general fabrication.

316 adds molybdenum and carries more nickel, for marine, chemical and pharmaceutical work. Since nickel drives the price, 316 pays well above 18/8 — often close to double, as the live table shows.

Solids outperform turnings in both grades. Turnings are machining swarf: they hold cutting fluid, generate fines lost in processing and take more handling per tonne, so they are discounted against the identical alloy in solid form.

Mixed or unsorted stainless is paid at the lowest rate in the load, because the buyer has to assume the worst until it is tested.

Getting a better price for your stainless steel

• Sort 316 from 18/8 before you weigh in. Mixed loads are paid at the lower rate across the whole weight, and the gap between the two is large.
• A magnet gives you a fast first sort: 18/8 and 316 are essentially non-magnetic, while ordinary and 400-series steel sticks.
• Remove plastic, rubber seals and carbon-steel brackets from sinks and catering equipment.
• Keep solids and turnings apart. The alloy is identical but they are priced as separate grades.