Stainless Steel Scrap Prices
As of October 11, 2026, LME nickel is $7.12 per pound. Yards are paying about $0.33 to $0.43 per pound for clean 304 stainless and $0.71 to $0.78 for 316. The nickel inside is what the yard is buying; if a magnet sticks, the piece is a 400-series alloy and sells for steel money.
Stainless steel scrap prices by grade
Benchmark: LME nickel $7.12/lb -0.00% 24has of October 11, 2026.
| Grade | Basis | Price per lb |
|---|---|---|
304 stainless steel Sinks and appliances; a magnet does not stick | 4.7% to 6% of LME nickel | $0.33 to $0.43 |
316 stainless steel Marine and chemical grade, 10% nickel plus moly | 10% to 11% of LME nickel | $0.71 to $0.78 |
Estimated yard price per lb: benchmark times the share yards typically pay, calibrated to posted boards. Ranges cover the spread between yards.
Estimates checked against posted yard boards on September 18, 2026.
Stainless load calculator
Add each material in your load, enter its weight, and the estimate updates with the live benchmarks. Enter a yard's quote to see where it lands in the range.
Estimated payout for this load
$3.35 to $4.27
Yards pay on their own scale after grading, and boards differ by region, so use the range to judge a quote.
The LME nickel benchmark
Stainless scrap is priced on contained nickel, so this chart is what moves the 304 and 316 lines. Chromium, the other main alloying metal, is cheap enough that yards ignore it.
How stainless steel scrap is priced
Stainless is iron with chromium and, in the grades yards pay for, nickel. Chromium is cheap; nickel isn't, so the LME nickel price sets the board. 304 stainless is about 8 percent nickel, which at $7.12 per pound is about $0.57 of contained nickel in every pound of scrap. Yards pay roughly 60 to 75 percent of that contained value once their processing, freight to a stainless mill, and margin come out, which is where the posted 304 price comes from.
316 carries about 10 percent nickel and 2 to 3 percent molybdenum, another expensive metal, and pays around double 304. Higher-nickel alloys (Monel, Inconel, Hastelloy) are a different market entirely and sell by the pound at prices that can rival copper, but they need a yard with an analyzer to prove the alloy.
304, 316, and the magnet test
The first sort is a magnet. 300-series stainless (304, 316, 303, 301) is austenitic and non-magnetic, or only faintly magnetic where it has been bent or cut. 400-series (409, 410, 430) has little or no nickel, grabs a magnet firmly, and is bought as steel or on a small separate line. Automotive exhaust, cheap cutlery, and some appliance trim are 400-series; sinks, restaurant equipment, and food-processing gear are usually 304.
Telling 304 from 316 by eye isn't possible. Look for markings (316 is often stamped on marine hardware, valves, and process piping), consider the source (boats, chemical plants, pharmaceutical and food plants lean 316), and expect the yard to use a handheld analyzer on anything sold as 316. Unmarked stainless is bought as 304.
Where stainless scrap comes from
Kitchen sinks are the classic homeowner item, along with appliance panels, cookware, and grill parts. Restaurant closures give up tables, shelving, hoods, and sinks by the hundred pounds. Industrial sources are tanks, piping, railings, medical and lab equipment, and dairy or brewery gear, much of it 316. Cars contribute exhaust systems, mostly magnetic 409, and trim.
Prep that changes the grade
A stainless sink with the steel strainer, brass faucet, and plastic drain still attached is bought as mixed or dirty stainless. Unbolt the faucet (it's brass), pull the strainer, and it's clean 304. Shelving and tables often have galvanized or painted steel legs and brackets bolted on; the magnet finds them. Keep 316 separate if you can prove it, keep any nickel alloys separate and labeled, and don't mix in magnetic stainless, which will price the whole load down.
Stainless grades at a glance
The two grades yards post, and what the nickel content means for the price.
- 304 stainless steel
- Sinks, restaurant equipment, appliance panels. About 8% nickel, and the nickel is what the yard is paying for. A magnet should not stick.
- 4.7% to 6% of LME nickel
- 316 stainless steel
- About 10% nickel plus molybdenum, which is why it pays roughly double 304. Common in marine hardware and process equipment.
- 10% to 11% of LME nickel
How to get the best price for stainless scrap
- 1Magnet everything first. Anything that sticks goes to the steel pile. One magnetic piece in a stainless bin can reprice the bin.
- 2Remove brass, copper, and plastic. Faucets, valves, and drains are worth more sold as brass, and they downgrade stainless when left attached.
- 3Keep 316 and labeled alloys apart. 316 pays about double 304, and Monel or Inconel pay multiples of that, but only when the yard can confirm the alloy.
- 4Cut down large items. Tanks, hoods, and tables sell better cut to a size the yard can handle without a torch; ask the yard's limit.
- 5Sell when nickel is up. Stainless boards follow the LME nickel price with a lag of a day or two. The chart above is the signal.
Where these estimates come from
Each grade is the live LME nickel price times the share yards typically pay. The shares were set by dividing posted yard prices by the same day's benchmark, using these public boards, and last checked on September 18, 2026:
- Rockaway Recycling (New Jersey), posted board of September 18, 2026
- Central Metal Recycling (Chicago), posted board, mid-September 2026
- MetalRecap national price survey, September 17, 2026
- ScrapMonster North American grade spreads, June 2026
Published by MetalCharts, a free precious metals resource providing real-time prices, interactive charts, educational guides, and portfolio management tools. All market data sourced from COMEX, LBMA, and LME.
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