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.
Japan’s Honda to produce more cars in US, less locally
Japan’s Honda to produce more cars in US, less locally
Tokyo, 16 April (Argus) — Japanese car producer Honda will produce a car model at its US facility instead of its domestic facility from as early as June, the company told Argus today, possibly to avoid the US' tariffs on foreign car deliveries. Honda will stop manufacturing the Civic Hybrid 5-door model at the country's eastern Yorii plant during June-July and switch the production to its US plant in the state of Indianna, the representative of the firm told Argus . Honda produced 3,000 units of the model during February and March, he added. This comes as part of the company's mid-to long term "optimisation strategy", according to the firm, reiterating that theproduction switch is not a countermeasure against the US' across-the-board 25pc tariff on automobile imports that took effect on 3 April. But this may not be entirely convincing since Honda just started producing the model in February, leaving room for speculation that the transfer is part of a wider strategy to reduce delivery costs to the US market. Honda did not disclose whether the Indiana plant will procure auto parts from its suppliers in Canada or Mexico . Japanese auto industry is still bracing for further developments in the US tariff policy on automobile and auto parts, although US president Donald Trump on 14 April suggested possibly pausing the tariff. Tokyo and Washington will hold a ministerial talk this week to negotiate trade issues, including the levy on auto delivery, along with the 24pc "reciprocal" tariffs the Trump administration separately imposed on Japanese imports. Japanese government is hoping to negotiate for a better tariff deal during the 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariff imposition by the US government, and the automobile industry is seen as a key sector to settle the deal. The US president has long expressed his dissatisfaction against the auto trade imbalance between two countries. Japan exported around 1.3mn units of passenger vehicles to the US in 2024, while Japan purchased around 23,000 units of US passenger vehicles in 2023. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia's Fortescue announces electric drills deal
Australia's Fortescue announces electric drills deal
Sydney, 16 April (Argus) — Australian iron ore and energy company Fortescue has announced a A$350mn ($222mn) deal with Swedish firm Epiroc to buy over 50 electric drill rigs aimed at reducing emissions at its iron ore operations in Western Australia (WA). Fortescue expects the drills to reduce annual diesel consumption by around 35mn litres once it fully replaces diesel-powered equipment by 2030. The new fleet will cut more than 90,000t of CO2 emissions annually, Fortescue Metals chief executive officer Dino Otranto said on 16 April. The fleet includes autonomous electric platform and contour drills, and the first equipment arrived at Fortescue's Solomon mine in early April. The deal is part of the company's plan to replace its diesel-powered equipment by 2030. It signed a $2.8bn deal with Swiss-German manufacturer Liebherr in 2024 for a battery-powered truck fleet for its mining operations. Fortescue plans to replace around 800 pieces of heavy mining equipment with zero emissions equivalents and deploy 2-3GW of renewable energy and battery storage across the Pilbara region by the end of this decade, Otranto said. Fortescue is currently building a 190MW solar farm at its Cloudbreak mine, which will reduce annual diesel consumption by a further 125mn l. Safeguard mechanism results The company reported covered scope 1 emissions of 1.96mn t of CO2e across seven facilities in the first compliance year of Australia's reformed safeguard mechanism , which was just over 100,000t of CO2e above a combined baseline of 1.85mn t of CO2e. Facilities earn Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs) under the scheme if their emissions are below baseline or must surrender Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) or SMCs if emissions are above the threshold. Fortescue earned 49,749 SMCs for its Solomon Power Station and surrendered the units across four other facilities that exceeded their baselines. It also surrendered 57,753 ACCUs, while two of its facilities — the Christmas Creek Mine and Eliwana Mine — will have to manage a combined excess of 49,382t of CO2e in future under applications for multi-year monitoring periods (MYMP), which allow eligible facilities to report under the safeguard scheme for periods of up to five years ( see table ). Fortescue expected to exceed emissions baselines by around 120,000t of CO2e in the 2023-24 year, it said in 2024. ACCU generic, generic (No AD) and human-induced regeneration (HIR) spot prices have remained below A$35 ($22) over the past two months, having declined steadily from mid-November because of lower buying interest from safeguard companies and strong SMC issuances. By Juan Weik and Susannah Cornford Fortescue's 2023-24 safeguard mechanism results t CO2e Facility Covered emissions Baseline ACCUs surrendered SMCs surrendered SMCs issued MYMP net position Solomon Mine 452,137 390,033 42,926 19,178 Solomon Power Station 316,859 366,608 49,749 Christmas Creek Mine 372,251 351,986 20,265 Cloudbreak Mine 295,132 267,459 8,411 19,262 Rail 254,871 241,706 4,002 9,163 Eliwana Mine 164,894 135,777 29,117 Iron Bridge Mine 104,560 100,000 2,414 2,146 Total 1,960,704 1,853,569 57,753 49,749 49,749 49,382 Source: Clean Energy Regulator Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Western Australia’s iron ore exports rise in March
Western Australia’s iron ore exports rise in March
Sydney, 15 April (Argus) — Iron ore producers shipped 64.3mn t of ore out of Australia's Port Hedland and Dampier Port, up by 0.8pc on the year, after months of weather challenges. Exports from Dampier fell by 0.7pc on the year, but this was offset by a 1.2pc increase in shipments from the larger Port Hedland ( see table ). Shipments from Port Hedland to Vietnam rose by more than seven-fold on the year to 2.6mn t from 343,059t, offsetting declines in exports to China and Japan. The increase comes after Vietnamese buyers reduced purchases of Port Hedland iron ore by 73pc on the year in February . Iron ore producers shipped 41.2mn t of ore from Port Hedland to China in March, down by 4pc on the year. Chinese steelmakers cut production in March because of weak demand and maintenance work . Chinese steel mills may continue to cut production in April. Indian firms imported 381,000t of Port Hedland iron ore in March, up by 98pc on the year. JWS Steel and Tata Steel, the country's two largest steelmakers, increased their crude steel output by 6pc on the year over the April 2024-March 2025 fiscal year . Port Hedland and Dampier closed multiple times in late-January and February as cyclones plagued the region . One of Rio Tinto's railcar dumpers at Dampier was restarted in early March after it sustained flood damage during Cyclone Sean in January. Argus ' iron ore fines 62pc (ICX) cfr Qingdao price fell from $107/t on 28 February to $101/t on 3 March. The price partially recovered over the month, reaching $104/t on 2 April, before falling to just $100/t on 14 April. By Avinash Govind Pilbara's iron ore exports mn t Mar-25 Feb-25 Mar-24 m-o-m ± % y-o-y ± % Port Hedland China 41.2 31.6 42.9 30.4 -4.0 Japan 1.3 1.4 1.8 -7.1 -27.8 Vietnam 2.6 0.3 0.3 871.0 670.0 India 0.4 0.0 0.2 NA 98.4 South Korea 3.9 2.9 3.4 34.5 14.7 Total* 50.7 37.1 50.1 36.7 1.2 Dampier Total 13.6 8.2 13.7 65.9 -0.7 Total includes other countries not listed Source: Pilbara Ports Authority Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan’s JFE finalises investment in EAF steel plant
Japan’s JFE finalises investment in EAF steel plant
Tokyo, 10 April (Argus) — Japanese steel producer JFE has made the final investment decision on its first large-scale electric arc furnace (EAF) plant as part of the company's decarbonisation efforts, it announced today. JFE will invest ¥329bn ($2.2bn) in a 2mn t/yr EAF steel production facility in western Okayama, aiming to start commercial operations sometime during April-June 2028, according to the firm. This would make it the largest EAF facility by capacity in Japan, the firm said, adding that JFE is likely to replace its existing basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) plant although further details were yet undecided. JFE initially expected to start mass production in 2027 , but it delayed the project partly because the ¥105bn subsidy from the Japanese government was approved only on 9 April, the firm said. Major domestic steel producers using the BOF method are accelerating their shift to EAFs to meet decarbonisation goals. The country's largest steel mill Nippon Steel started EAF commercial operations in 2022 , and it plans to invest in another EAF plant in the southern Kyushu area. This is to replace the existing BOF facility that is producing 3.6mn t/yr of steel products, according to Nippon. Kobe Steel, the third-largest domestic steel firm, also announced in May 2024 that it will introduce a new EAF sometime during the 2030s, looking to replace one of the two BOFs at its Kakogawa steel works in the country's western Hyogo prefecture. Japan aims to hit its net zero emission goal by 2050 and it is critical to reduce greenhouse gas emission from the steel industry, which accounts for 35pc of total emissions in the country's manufacturing industry. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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