How Is Scrap Metal Priced? The 8 Factors That Decide What Your Scrap Is Worth

Ever wonder why your neighbor got more for the same pile of metal? Scrap pricing isn’t random — it follows real market rules. Here’s exactly how scrap yards determine prices, and how to get more for yours.

Scrap metal is priced based on the metal type, its grade and cleanliness, the quantity you’re selling, current commodity market prices, and preparation. Non-ferrous metals like copper and brass pay far more than steel. Prices change daily with global markets, so always call the yard for today’s rate.

1. The Metal Type Matters Most

This is the single biggest factor. Metals split into two families, and they live in completely different price worlds.

Non-ferrous metals — copper, aluminum, brass, stainless steel, lead — don’t contain iron and don’t stick to a magnet. They’re rarer, harder to produce, and worth dramatically more. Copper is the king: a pound of clean copper can be worth 10 to 20 times what a pound of steel brings.

Ferrous metals — steel, iron — are magnetic and abundant. They’re still recyclable and still worth money, but the per-pound value is a fraction of copper’s. That rusty washing machine? Mostly steel. Worth selling, but don’t expect copper money.

Quick test you can do at home: hold a magnet to your metal. If it sticks, it’s ferrous (lower value). If it doesn’t, it’s non-ferrous (higher value). That one test tells you more about your pile’s worth than anything else.

2. Grade and Cleanliness: The Same Metal, Different Prices

Here’s what surprises most first-time sellers: not all copper is priced the same. Scrap yards buy by grade, and grade is mostly about purity.

Take copper. Bare bright copper — clean, uncoated, unalloyed copper wire stripped of insulation — commands the top price. #1 copper is clean copper tubing or wire with minimal oxidation. #2 copper has some corrosion, solder joints, or paint. Each step down means less money per pound, because the yard has to do more work to refine it.

The same ladder exists for aluminum (clean extrusions vs. painted siding vs. mixed), brass (yellow vs. red), and steel (prepared heavy melt vs. light mixed scrap). Contamination — plastic, rubber, wood, other metals mixed in — always pushes you down the grade ladder.

An hour spent stripping wire insulation or separating your copper from your steel can meaningfully increase what you walk out with. Preparation pays.

3. Global Commodity Markets Set the Ceiling

Your local scrap yard doesn’t invent prices. They’re downstream of global commodity exchanges — primarily COMEX (part of the CME Group in New York) for copper and LME (London Metal Exchange) for aluminum and other metals. When copper futures rise in London overnight, your Fort Lauderdale yard’s buying price moves the next morning.

This is why prices change daily. A trade policy announcement, a mine strike in Chile, a construction boom in India, a tariff decision in Washington — all of it ripples through the exchanges and lands in what your yard pays per pound. (For reference on how these benchmarks move: COMEX copper was around $6.52/lb on October 21, 2026 — but that’s the exchange benchmark, not any yard’s buying price. Yard prices sit below exchange levels because of processing, transport, and margin.)

4. Supply and Demand in the Real World

Beyond the exchanges, physical supply and demand push prices around. When construction is booming — new condos going up along Fort Lauderdale beach, highway work on I-95 — mills need more scrap steel and prices rise. When manufacturing slows, demand drops and so do prices.

Seasonality plays a role too. Scrap generation peaks in spring and summer (construction season, spring cleaning, storm cleanup). In South Florida, hurricane season creates its own cycle — after a major storm, downed aluminum fencing, damaged AC units, and torn-off metal roofing flood local yards, and the sudden supply surge can soften prices temporarily.

5. Quantity: Bigger Loads Get Better Rates

Yards have a cost to weigh, sort, and process every transaction. A contractor rolling in with 2,000 pounds of clean copper gets more attention — and often a better per-pound rate — than someone with a five-pound bucket. It’s simple economics: the yard’s fixed handling cost spreads thinner over bigger loads.

This doesn’t mean small loads aren’t worth bringing. It means if you can accumulate material and bring it in fewer, larger trips, you’ll generally do better. For businesses generating steady scrap, commercial scrap metal recycling programs with scheduled pickups are built around exactly this logic.

6. Preparation: Clean, Sorted, Stripped

Yards pay for metal, not for the plastic, rubber, wood, and garbage mixed in with it. Every contaminant is labor the yard has to spend removing — and they price that in.

The preparation moves that pay:

• Strip insulated wire to bare bright copper (the single highest-value upgrade you can do)
• Separate ferrous from non-ferrous with a magnet before you arrive
• Remove non-metal attachments — plastic handles, rubber gaskets, wood
• Drain fluids from anything that held oil, gas, or refrigerant (and follow EPA rules doing it)
• Cut oversized pieces to manageable lengths if the yard requires it

None of this requires special tools beyond wire strippers and a magnet. The yards notice prepared loads, and prepared loads get graded higher.

7. Transportation and Location

Scrap is heavy and cheap per pound, which makes transport costs a real factor. A yard in Fort Lauderdale pays based partly on what it costs them to get your material to the mill or export terminal — Port Everglades, rail, trucking. That’s one reason prices vary yard to yard and city to city: each yard’s logistics chain is different.

It also means “shopping around” has limits. Driving 40 miles to save two cents a pound on 50 pounds of steel burns more in gas than you gain. For small loads, the closest reputable yard usually wins. For large commercial loads, the math can favor calling around.

8. The Yard’s Business Model

Different yards have different cost structures. A large processor with its own shredder and direct mill contracts can pay more than a small buyer who resells to that same processor. Yards also differ in how they grade — one yard’s “#1 copper” might be another’s “#2.” This is the honest reason prices vary between yards on the same day for the same material.

What to look for: transparent grading (they show you the grade they’re assigning), a scale you can see, and staff who’ll explain the price instead of shrugging. Those are the marks of a yard that wants repeat customers.

Ferrous vs. Non-Ferrous: The Complete Breakdown

Since this distinction drives everything, here’s the full picture:

Ferrous (magnetic — lower value per pound):

• Heavy melting steel (HMS) — structural steel, thick plate
• Cast iron — engine blocks, pipes, radiators
• Light iron — appliances, sheet metal, thin steel
• Stainless steel is the exception — it’s technically in the steel family but priced much higher because of its nickel and chromium content

Non-ferrous (non-magnetic — higher value per pound):

• Copper — wire, tubing, coils (the most valuable common scrap)
• Aluminum — cans, siding, extrusions, wheels
• Brass — faucets, valves, fittings (a copper-zinc alloy)
• Lead — batteries, wheel weights
• Stainless steel — sinks, restaurant equipment (often grouped here commercially)

If you remember nothing else: magnet sticks = lower value, magnet doesn’t stick = check it carefully, it might be worth real money.

Why Prices Change Every Day

New sellers always ask this. The short answer: your scrap is a commodity, and commodities trade every business day. Copper futures don’t take weekends off from moving (well, markets close, but the point stands). A yard that held yesterday’s price while the market dropped 5% would lose money on every pound. Daily repricing is how yards stay in business — and it’s standard across the industry.

What this means for you: the price someone got last month is trivia, not a quote. Always call for today’s number: +1 954-762-9100.

How to Get the Best Price for Your Scrap Metal

Putting it all together — the practical playbook:

1. Sort with a magnet before you leave home. Separate ferrous from non-ferrous.
2. Strip your wire. Bare bright copper is the top of the ladder.
3. Clean off contaminants. No plastic, rubber, or wood mixed in.
4. Accumulate bigger loads when you can — fewer trips, better rates.
5. Know your grades so you can have an informed conversation at the scale.
6. Call for today’s price before you load up — prices move daily.
7. Bring ID. Florida regulates scrap sales, and legitimate yards will ask.

Frequently Asked Questions About Scrap Metal Pricing

Why did the yard pay me less than the COMEX copper price?

Exchange prices are for pure, exchange-grade metal in bulk contracts. Your scrap needs transport, processing, and grading — the yard’s buying price always sits below the exchange benchmark. That’s normal everywhere.

What time of year are scrap prices highest?

There’s no guaranteed seasonal peak, but spring and summer often see stronger demand from construction. That said, global events move prices more than seasons do.

Does cleaning scrap really increase its value?

Yes — moving up even one grade (say, #2 copper to #1) can mean a noticeable per-pound difference across a whole load. An hour of sorting and stripping is usually the highest-paying hour of the process.

Why do two yards quote different prices on the same day?

Different cost structures, different downstream buyers, different grading standards, different margins. Get quotes, but factor in drive time and the yard’s reputation too.

Is it worth stripping insulation off wire?

Almost always, yes — if you have more than a few pounds of it. Bare bright copper commands the top copper price, while insulated wire gets priced much lower. A basic wire stripper pays for itself fast.

What’s the most valuable common scrap metal?

Copper, by a wide margin — especially bare bright wire. After that: brass, then aluminum, then stainless steel, then regular steel and iron.

Do I need to remove steel screws from aluminum?

Yes, if you want the aluminum graded as clean. Steel contamination downgrades aluminum. A magnet makes this check fast.

How often should I check prices before selling?

If you’re sitting on a large load and not in a hurry, checking weekly gives you a feel for the trend. But the only price that matters is today’s — call the yard before you come.