Scrap Metal Prices Today

As of July 18, 2026, the exchange benchmarks behind scrap metal prices today stand at $6.22 per pound for COMEX copper and about $1.43 per pound for LME aluminum. Scrap yards pay a discount to those benchmarks; the estimates below show the typical ranges, which vary by yard and region.

Current scrap metal prices always trace back to two exchanges: COMEX in New York, which sets the copper benchmark in dollars per pound, and the London Metal Exchange, which prices aluminum, zinc, nickel, and lead per metric tonne. Your local yard starts from those numbers, subtracts its costs and margin, and posts a board price. The table below applies typical payout shares, as reported by recycling industry price trackers, to the live benchmarks.

A scrap yard is the first link in the metal recycling chain: it buys mixed material from the public and businesses, sorts and processes it, then sells sorted loads to mills, smelters, and refiners at prices tied to the exchanges. The discount between the exchange price and the yard's board covers four real costs: sorting and processing labor, freight to the consuming mill, price risk on metal held between purchase and resale, and the yard's margin. That is why the discount is not fixed: it widens when prices fall quickly (yards protect themselves against holding losses) and tightens when mills are short of material. It also explains the two rules of thumb every scrapper learns: cleaner and better-sorted material commands a smaller discount, and bigger volumes command better terms. Regional factors matter too; yards near ports and mills pay more than remote ones because their freight is cheaper.

Copper is the money metal of scrapping. With COMEX copper at $6.22 per pound, clean bare bright wire typically brings an estimated $4.97 to $5.59 per pound (80 to 90 percent of the benchmark), with No.1 copper around 80 to 85 percent and No.2 around 70 to 80 percent.

Grades hinge on cleanliness: bare bright is shiny stripped wire, No.1 is clean pipe and solids, No.2 carries solder, paint, or oxidation, and insulated wire is priced on its copper recovery rate. The full grade-by-grade breakdown, with definitions and estimated per-pound values, is on our dedicated scrap copper prices page, and the underlying benchmark lives on the copper price per pound chart.

Aluminum scrap prices today key off the LME benchmark, currently about $1.43 per pound (converted from dollars per metric tonne). The discount is much steeper than copper's because aluminum grades vary widely in alloy content and contamination: recycling price trackers put common consumer grades at roughly 35 to 60 percent of the LME price.

Cans (UBC, used beverage cans) are the highest-volume consumer grade; coatings, moisture, and melt loss hold scrap aluminum prices per pound for cans to roughly half the benchmark. Clean sheet (siding, gutters, flashing) prices similarly or slightly below, dragged down by paint and fasteners. Cast aluminum (grills, transmission housings) is alloy-heavy and prices in a wide band. Clean extrusions such as 6063 window frame stock are the exception, often approaching the benchmark because mills can remelt them directly. Track the underlying market on the live aluminum price chart.

Brass has no exchange contract of its own; it is priced from its ingredients. Yellow brass runs roughly 60 to 70 percent copper with the balance zinc, so at today's benchmarks a nominal 67/33 alloy carries about $4.69 per pound of contained metal value (0.67 x $6.22 copper + 0.33 x zinc). Yards pay below that contained value, and well below the copper price, because brass must be remelted and refined as an alloy.

For reference, recycling price trackers listed clean yellow brass around $3.30 to $3.70 per pound in mid-2026; treat that as a dated snapshot, not a quote, since brass follows the copper price and zinc price up and down. Plumbing fixtures, valves, shell casings, and decorative hardware are the common sources; red brass, with higher copper content, prices above yellow.

Steel is the volume play of metal recycling: the lowest price per pound, the highest tonnage. Unlike copper or aluminum there is no single global exchange benchmark behind yard quotes; scrap steel prices today are set from regional mill buying programs and published ferrous indices, quoted per gross ton (2,240 pounds) or net ton rather than per pound. The benchmark grades are shredded steel (processed auto and appliance scrap), HMS No.1 (heavy melting steel at least a quarter inch thick), plate and structural (the premium cut grade), and light iron (thin sheet and appliances, the bottom of the board). As a dated reference point, industry price trackers in mid-2026 showed shredded steel around $150 to $260 per ton and consumer-scale ferrous payouts of roughly 3 to 19 cents per pound depending on grade and region. Steel prices move with mill demand, export flows, and construction activity, and yard quotes reset monthly with the index cycle rather than tick by tick, so call for a current number before hauling a heavy load.