Scrap Steel Prices in Australia
Steel is by far the most common scrap metal by weight in Australia and by far the lowest-paying per kilogram. It's volume economics — yards make their money on steel through aggregation and export, not margin per piece. For sellers, the rule of thumb is simple: steel is only worth scrapping in meaningful quantities, typically 50kg or more, or as part of a mixed load that includes higher-value metals.
30-day price trend
Steel grades and Sydney payouts (per kg)
Estimated yard payouts in Sydney. Other cities adjust by ±5–20% depending on transport distance to smelters.
| Grade | Payout rate | Est. mid (AUD/kg) | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Melting Steel (HMS) Steel at least 6mm thick. Standard ferrous grade for export markets. | 18% | $0.08 | $0.06 – $0.09 |
| Light Steel Thinner sheet steel, appliance cabinets, light gauge profiles. | 12% | $0.05 | $0.04 – $0.06 |
Where to sell steel
Payouts vary by city based on transport distance to smelters and ports. Sydney sets the national benchmark; remote cities pay less.
How steel is graded
Australian scrap yards work with two main grades of ferrous metal for residential and trade scrap: heavy melting steel (HMS) and light steel. The distinction is mostly about thickness, and the price gap reflects the processing economics for the export market that Australian ferrous scrap predominantly serves.
Heavy melting steel (HMS) covers any ferrous material 6mm or thicker. Structural beams, channel and angle iron, plate steel, machinery frames, hot water cylinder bodies, ute trays (steel versions), and most demolition material falls here. Cast iron — bath tubs, engine blocks, old machine bases, radiators — sells under the same heavy ferrous umbrella at similar or slightly better rates. Most yards pay HMS at roughly 15-20% of the underlying iron ore price equivalent, which translates to $0.07-0.12/kg in current markets.
Light steel is thinner sheet and gauge material under 6mm. Whitegoods cabinets, sheet metal duct, light gauge stud framing, steel furniture, vehicle body panels, and miscellaneous gauge stock fall here. The discount versus HMS is typically 30-50% because the processing per tonne of usable steel is higher.
Beyond these two main grades, several specialty categories exist at larger commercial yards: stainless steel (priced as stainless, not steel), tool steel and high-speed steel (specialty buyers), and silicon steel from transformer laminations (also specialty). For most residential and trade sellers, only HMS and light apply.
Galvanised steel — Colorbond roofing, fence panels, gutters, water tanks — is generally accepted at the standard grade for its thickness. The zinc coating is thin enough that yards don’t discount it materially.
The single most important fact about steel grading is that a load is graded as a whole, not piece by piece. Mixing light and heavy on the same trip tends to produce a light rate across everything. Sorting by grade before the weighbridge is the only way to capture the HMS rate on the heavy material in a mixed load.
Where steel comes from in Australian homes
Steel appears in residential scrap in much greater volume than any other metal, but most of it is light gauge or contaminated with other materials.
Whitegoods cabinets are the single largest household source — fridges, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, ovens, microwaves all have steel outer cases. A typical full-size fridge has 55kg of light steel after the compressor (copper) and condenser (aluminium) are removed. A washing machine has 35-40kg. Council collection days generate large volumes of these.
Hot water cylinders — the modern stainless-lined steel type — yield 35-50kg of HMS-grade steel per unit, depending on capacity. Older copper-tank versions yield less steel but contain valuable copper.
Cast iron baths, common in pre-1970s Australian homes, are heavy ferrous at 100-150kg each. Their weight makes them physically challenging to handle but excellent yard fodder if you can transport them. Modern fibreglass and steel baths are far lighter and produce much less scrap value.
Colorbond and steel roofing, gutters, and fencing generate volume during renovations and demolitions. Crushed flat for transport, a typical domestic re-roof produces 200-300kg of light gauge galvanised steel.
Steel framing — wall studs in newer Australian homes are increasingly steel rather than timber, particularly in termite-prone areas. Demolition jobs produce substantial steel-framing volumes at the light gauge rate.
Vehicles and large appliances — vehicle bodies after stripping, ride-on mowers, BBQs, garden tools, fitness equipment, filing cabinets — are mixed steel of various gauges, usually accepted as light unless particular pieces are clearly heavy.
Heavy machinery and demolition — beams, columns, plate, pipe — produce HMS volumes that justify dedicated transport. Trade contractors handling demolition or industrial dismantling are the main HMS sources.
A practical consideration: most yards have minimum drop-off weights (often 50kg) below which steel either isn’t accepted or is paid at a “walk-in” rate well below the published HMS or light rate. Consolidating steel loads with neighbours or builders, or accumulating until you have a meaningful quantity, dramatically improves the return per trip.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth driving 30 minutes to scrap a small steel load? +
Generally no. A 20kg load of light steel at $0.10-0.15/kg pays $2-3, which doesn't cover fuel. Steel only makes economic sense at weighbridge volumes (typically 50kg+) or when combined with copper, brass, or aluminium that justifies the trip. Most yards have a minimum drop-off weight below which they pay walk-in rates that are even lower than the published rate.
What's the difference between heavy melting steel and light steel? +
Thickness, mostly. Heavy Melting Steel (HMS) is 6mm or thicker — structural beams, hot water cylinders, machinery housings. Light steel is thinner sheet — whitegoods cabinets, light-gauge framing, steel furniture. HMS pays more because it requires less processing and yields more usable steel per tonne. The gap is typically 30-50%.
Does galvanised steel get a lower rate than plain steel? +
Marginally. Galvanising adds a thin zinc coating that needs to burn off in processing, but the loss is small and most yards accept galvanised steel at the standard light or heavy rate depending on thickness. Heavily galvanised structural steel sometimes attracts a small discount.
Is cast iron different from steel for scrap purposes? +
Cast iron — engine blocks, bath tubs, old radiators, heavy machine parts — is sold under the heavy ferrous category at most Australian yards, at similar rates to HMS. Some yards pay a small premium for clean cast iron because of its predictable carbon content and ease of remelting. Cast iron is brittle (it cracks rather than bends) and much heavier than steel of equivalent volume.
Why are appliance cabinets paid so little? +
Light gauge, painted, with plastic and rubber attached, often with concrete counterweights or wiring still inside. Yards either accept them whole at a low blended rate or refuse them until the seller strips out the non-ferrous components. Stripped appliance cabinets go in at the light steel rate.
Is there any way to get more than light steel rate for whitegoods? +
Yes, but only by parting them out. The copper motor windings, stainless drum (on modern washers/dishwashers), and aluminium components inside a whitegoods cabinet are individually worth multiples of the steel rate per kilogram. A stripped washing machine is worth far less in total than a fully-disassembled one. See our 'What is it worth' pages for individual item value breakdowns.