Scrap
Overview
Argus provides comprehensive and detailed coverage of the global ferrous and non-ferrous scrap markets, with over 1,000 prices assessed by a global network of highly skilled market experts.
Argus’ strength lies in our ability to create appropriate methodologies for the trading dynamics of a specific spot market and to provide mechanisms for valuing scrap alloys.
Participants in the scrap industry rely on our extensive price data to act as an independent contract settlement mechanism, and use our powerful tools, like the Argus Alloy Calculator, to estimate the intrinsic value of highly engineered alloys.
Ferrous coverage
Argus offers a comprehensive regional view of the most active spot markets for ferrous scrap in regions around the world. Each price is available for direct comparison in multiple markets, with currency and unit of measurement conversions available to standardise charts and facilitate detection of favourable trade conditions.
Distinguished by either fob dealer or delivered to consumer inco terms, all prices are aligned with common industry specifications for that region. Explore the full list of scrap prices and specifications, including the length of history available on the Argus Metals platform for the grades assessed.
- Bundles
- Busheling
- Foundry/specialty
- Heavy melt
- Machine shop turnings
- Plate and structural
- Shredded scrap
- Tool steel
- Stainless and super alloys
- Alloy Calculator, where the current value of any alloy can be calculated by an intrinsic value formula in the absence of sufficient liquidity to produce a proper assessment
Non-ferrous coverage
Argus provides the full range of non-ferrous coverage from scrap price assessments on UBC, zorba, taint, tweak, and twitch products, as well as exchange data (30-minute delay LME and Comex prices are standard with Argus products) and global base metal premiums. Explore the full list of scrap prices in each non-ferrous category and visit the exchange data page to understand the unique value that Argus brings through its analysis of global exchange prices.
- Aluminium prices
- Aluminium alloy prices
- Brass/bronze prices
- Copper prices
- Lead prices
- Nickel prices
- Stainless and alloys
- Zinc prices
- Alloy Calculator, including over 200 predefined common alloys
- Exchange data
Highlights of North American coverage
Argus’ coverage of the North American scrap market focuses on spot market trading patterns within the most active regional domestic trading locations, as well as on export transactions. The full value chain is represented in the suite of Argus scrap assessments, from collected at yard to delivered to consumer prices:
- 8 containerised scrap price locations
- 14 consumer buying scrap price locations, including US and Canada
- 8 export yard scrap buying price locations
- 4 dealer selling scrap price locations
- 139 regional US and Canada non-ferrous scrap yard collection prices
- Prime and obsolete grades of scrap price assessments
- Mill and foundry grades of scrap price assessments: Titanium, stainless and scrap alloy pricing
- Southern US busheling and shredded weighted average assessments
Highlights of European coverage
Argus Scrap Markets provides context and intelligence to European domestic scrap markets to help steel mills, scrap suppliers, buyers and industrial manufacturers gain a greater understanding of the markets in which they operate. Argus produces over 50 European scrap prices assessments, including:
- German domestic ferrous scrap prices
- Spanish domestic ferrous scrap prices
- Spanish imported scrap prices
- UK domestic ferrous scrap prices
- Russia, including St Petersburg, dockside price
Highlights of Asian coverage
Argus carries Asian scrap prices from a variety of mature scrap-generating markets, and provides insightful analysis of deep-sea trades and short-sea trades. Argus covers the full scope of steel mill purchasing activity for electric arc furnace-based production, including stainless and engineered steels, in recognition of the global nature of many steel feedstocks purchased by mills across the world:
- Taiwan imported ferrous scrap prices
- India imported ferrous scrap prices
- Pakistan imported ferrous scrap prices
- Bangladesh imported ferrous scrap prices
- China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan imported aluminium scrap prices
- China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan imported copper scrap prices
Argus carries a variety of global scrap prices in each of its three core products — Argus Scrap Markets, Argus Ferrous Markets and Argus Non-Ferrous Markets. To discover the combination of products that will provide the most complete coverage to serve your company’s needs, contact us for a consultation. Information about Argus subscription options can be found here.
Latest scrap news
Browse the latest market moving news on the scrap industry.
South Australia closes Hydrogen Power SA office
South Australia closes Hydrogen Power SA office
Sydney, 2 May (Argus) — The state government of South Australia has rolled its Office of Hydrogen Power SA (OHPSA) into the Department of Energy and Mining (DEM), after scrapping plans for a 250MW electrolyser and 200MW hydrogen-fired power station. The OHPSA has been absorbed into the other state department, a spokesperson for SA energy minister Tom Koutsantonis said on 2 May. This comes after the state cut the A$593mn ($381mn) it had promised for its Hydrogen Jobs Plan in early 2025. The funds were reallocated to subsidise the 1.2mn t/yr Whyalla steelworks, which entered administration on 19 February . The associated Office of Northern Water Delivery, which was intended to support the green hydrogen sector in the state's upper Spencer Gulf region with new water pipeline supply, has also been incorporated within the DEM, Koutsantonis said on 1 May. SA's other major hydrogen hub planned at nearby Port Bonython was also overseen by the OHPSA. Development agreements with five companies have been signed for Port Bonython, including with London-based energy company Zero Petroleum for an e-SAF plant . SA is aiming to transition the ageing Whyalla steelworks to develop low emissions iron and steel products, but administrator KordaMentha is yet to finalise a buyer for Whyalla's controlling company OneSteel, which was formerly owned by UK-based GFG Alliance. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia's Coalition eyes power, resource funding cuts
Australia's Coalition eyes power, resource funding cuts
Sydney, 2 May (Argus) — Australia's federal Coalition opposition has announced it will cut key energy rebates and resource sector subsidies, if elected on 3 May, to reduce forecast future budget deficits. The Peter Dutton-led opposition will cut programs, including the Labor government's A$20bn ($12.8bn) Rewiring the Nation transmission plan, and the A$15bn National Reconstruction Fund aimed at underwriting green manufacturing using domestic minerals. It will also unwind electric vehicle tax concessions to save A$3.2bn, and cancel planned production tax credits for critical minerals processing and green hydrogen estimated to cost A$14.7bn. Combined savings measures will improve the budget's position by A$13.9bn over the four years to 2028-29, the Coalition said on 1 May, cutting debt by A$40bn during the same timeframe. The announcement comes as opinion polls show Australia's next federal government is likely to force one of the two major parties into minority, after a campaign where cost-of-living relief promises have trumped economic reform policy. The centre-left Labor party is more likely than the conservative Coalition to form government at the 3 May poll. It holds a thin majority of just three seats in parliament's main chamber, the House of Representatives, meaning a swing against it would force it to deal with minor parties such as the Greens and independent groupings. Promising a stable government, as Australia emerged from Covid-19, Labor had benefited from a resources boom as Russia's invasion of Ukraine led LNG and coal receipts to skyrocket and China's emergence from lockdowns revitalised its demand for iron ore, which jointly form the nation's main commodity exports. But as markets adjust to a period of protectionist trade policy and predictions of a slowdown in global growth abound, economists have criticised the major parties' reluctance to embrace major reform on areas such as taxation, while continuing to spend at elevated levels post-pandemic. Australia's resource and energy commodity exports are forecast to fall to A$387bn in the fiscal year to 30 June 2025 from A$415bn in 2023–24. The Office of the Chief Economist is predicting further falls over the next five years, reaching A$343bn in 2029-30, lowering expected government revenue from company tax and royalties. Gas The Coalition has pledged a domestic reservation scheme for the east coast, forcing 50-100PJ (1.34bn-2.68bn m³/yr) into the grid by penalising spot LNG cargoes. Australia's upstream lobby has opposed this, but rapidly declining reserves offshore Victoria state mean gas may need to be imported to the nation's south, depending on the success of electrification efforts and an uncertain timeline for coal-fired power retirements. Labor has resisted such further gas interventions , but it is unclear how it will reverse a trend of rising gas prices and diminishing domestic supply, despite releasing a future gas plan last year. The party is promising 82pc renewables nationally by 2030, meaning it will have to nearly double the 2025 year-to-date figure of 42pc. This could require 15GW of gas-fired capacity by 2050 to firm the grid. On environmental policy, narrowing polls mean Labor's likely partners in government could be the anti-fossil fuel Greens and climate-focused independents — just some of the present crossbench of 16 out of a parliament of 151. The crossbench may drive a climate trigger requirement in any changes to environmental assessments, which could rule out new or brownfield coal and gas projects. Coal has been conspicuously absent from policy debates, but Labor has criticised the Coalition's nuclear energy policy as expensive and unproven, while the Coalition has said Labor's renewables-led grid would be unstable and costly because of new transmission requirements. The impact of the US tariff shock that dominated opening days of the month-long election campaign remains unclear. Unlike Canada, Australia is yet to be directly targeted by US president Trump's rhetoric on trade balances and barriers. But the global unease that has set in could assist Labor's prime minister Anthony Albanese, as he presents an image of continuity in an uncertain world economy. Australia's main exposure to Trump tariffs is via China, its largest trading partner and destination for about 35pc of exports, including metal concentrates, ores, coal and LNG. A downturn in the world's largest manufacturer would spell difficult times ahead for Australia, as it grapples with balancing its budget in a normalising commodity market. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
GM cuts guidance on up to $5bn tariff exposure
GM cuts guidance on up to $5bn tariff exposure
Houston, 1 May (Argus) — Automaker General Motors (GM) revised its 2025 guidance lower today to reflect $4bn-5bn of exposure to auto tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Full-year 2025 profit guidance was lowered to a $8.2bn-10.1bn range, from the $11.2bn-12.5bn guidance given in the company's fourth quarter earnings call earlier this year. The new guidance takes into account clarifications to tariffs already imposed on automakers earlier this week. GM's tariff exposure includes $2bn of vehicles imported from South Korea and tariffs on autos imported from Mexico and Canada, as well as "indirect material imports." GM said it expects to offset 30pc of the exposure by producing an additional 50,000 full-size trucks/yr at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant and expanding battery module assembly in the US. GM will also work to ensure its supply chain is US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) compliant and nearshore its production, executives said. More than 80pc of GM's supply chain is USMCA compliant, most of which is based in the US. US president Donald Trump on 29 April offered to offset a 25pc tariff on imported auto parts scheduled to be imposed on 3 May and to exempt auto parts from accumulating these and and other import tariffs. Trump imposed a 25pc tariff on imported cars on 3 April. GM on 29 April rescheduled its earnings call but released its first quarter earnings on schedule that day. The company reported sales of 693,000 vehicles in the US in the first quarter, up by 17pc from the prior-year quarter. Electric vehicle (EV) sales rose by 94pc to 32,000 units in the same period. Global sales rose by 7pc to 1.44mn vehicles in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2024. GM posted a $2.8bn profit in the first quarter, down by 7pc from a year earlier, which was partially attributed to higher costs. By Marialuisa Rincon Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Some Liberty Speciality creditors oppose restructuring
Some Liberty Speciality creditors oppose restructuring
London, 1 May (Argus) — Liberty Speciality Steel in the UK could potentially face insolvency after all Greensill creditors and a number of "other" creditors voted against its restructuring plan, sources at the company told Argus . There was a restructuring plan hearing held on 30 April, where all Greensill creditors and over three quarters of "other" creditors opposed the restructuring, which will now be voted on by a judge at the sanction hearing on 15-16 May. Should the judge deem those creditors positions' unreasonable, their vote can technically be overruled. But sources that attended the hearings suggest they will likely be taken into account, meaning the restructuring plan could fail, and the company potentially face insolvency shortly afterwards. However, UK HMRC, Together Commercial Finance and GFG creditors voted in favour of the plan — Liberty Steel is part of the GFG Alliance. "We had a productive meeting and the meeting chair, from Begbies Traynor, is now reviewing and analysing the feedback we received so we can proceed to the next stage in the process", a Gupta Family Group Alliance spokesperson said. Prior to the plan Speciality Steel was subject to a winding up petition by several creditors, having produced intermittently in recent years under mounting cash pressures. Asked about the potential for the government stepping in under its newly passed Steel (Special Measures) bill, a department for business and trade spokesperson refused to comment, but sources suggest the government has no plans to use the powers more widely at present. A GFG spokesperson previously declined to comment on the idea of government intervention in Speciality Steel. Speciality Steel has two electric arc furnaces, the T Furnace for Speciality Steels and N Furnace for Engineering Steels. Via its Stocksbridge High Value Manufacturing business it can conduct vacuum induction melting, vacuum arc remelting and supplies high-profile sectors such as aerospace. The company's Rotherham site has the Thyrbergh bar mill, a 750,000t/yr facility that could complement British Steel's longs range. Liberty's plate mills in Scotland, which are unaffected by the Speciality Restructuring, have previously been supplied with British Steel slab. By Colin Richardson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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Understand price movements across ferrous and non-ferrous scrap, including the regional drivers and limiters with focuses views of the US, Europe and Asia. Explore our related services below.
Key price assessments
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