SPSteel Prices

Stainless Steel Prices UK — Per Kg, New and Scrap

What new 304 and 316 stainless costs per kg from UK stockholders, in sheet, bar, tube and coil, alongside what a yard pays for it as scrap today.

Scrap prices updated 2 October 2026, 05:42 UK time · new-steel prices as of September 2026

Quick Answer

The stainless steel price per kg in the UK is about £3.70/kg for new 304 sheet bought by the full 2500 × 1250 mm sheet, £6–10/kg cut to size or polished, and £5.00–6.50/kg upwards for 316 (September 2026, ex VAT). As scrap, 304 pays £0.53/kg and 316 £1.13/kg at UK yards today. Both new and scrap prices move with LME nickel, because nickel is where the value in stainless sits.

Stainless Steel Price Per Kg — New, September 2026

Ex VAT · indicative · UK stockholder list prices
Form304 £/kg316 £/kg
Sheet, full size2500 × 1250 mm, 1.2–3 mm, 2B mill finish£3.70 – £4.50£5.00 – £6.50
Sheet, cut-to-size or polishedCustom cuts, brushed or mirror finish£6 – £10£8 – £12
Round bar, 20 mm and up1–3 m lengths; small diameters cost far more per kg£4 – £8£7 – £12
Flat bar and angleMill finish, 1–4 m lengths£4.50 – £8£7.50 – £13
Box section and tubeBrushed polished, 1–5 m lengths£9 – £12£12 – £16
Mill coil, bulk contractCold-rolled coil leaving a European mill, tonnes at a time~£2.00 – £2.50~£2.80 – £3.50

Derived on 8 September 2026 from published UK online stockholder list prices (Aluminium Warehouse, F H Brundle, The Metal Store) divided by product mass. Trade accounts buying by the tonne pay less; small cuts, thin gauges and polished finishes pay considerably more per kg. 430 ferritic sheet, which has almost no nickel, is £1.80 – £2.50/kg. Mill coil is a rounded band from European price assessments, not a quote.

Why new stainless costs 5–10× the scrap price

Both prices start from the same place: the LME nickel price. Nickel is 8% of 304 and 10–14% of 316 by weight, and it is the expensive ingredient. When nickel moves, mills adjust their alloy surcharge within the month and yards adjust their per-kg rate within days.

From there the two prices diverge. A yard pays for metal content minus its own sorting, baling and haulage. A stockholder’s price includes melting, alloying, hot and cold rolling, annealing, pickling, finishing, cutting to length and delivery, plus margin at each step. Full sheets and large bar carry the least of that cost per kg, which is why they sit near the bottom of the table above. A 3 mm round bar costs more than £40/kg because you are paying almost entirely for handling.

For a quick sanity check on any quote: divide the price by the mass. Stainless is 7.9–8.0 kg per m² per mm of thickness, so a 2500 × 1250 × 2 mm sheet weighs about 49 kg. At £185 that is £3.75/kg; at £450 it is £9.20/kg. Both are real UK list prices for the same 304 sheet this month, the difference being finish and who you buy from. The same arithmetic works for steel priced per tonne.

Prices by grade: 304, 316 and 430

304 stainless steel price

18/8, A2, the everyday grade

New
£3.70 – £4.50/kg sheet · £4 – £8/kg bar · £6 – £10/kg cut to size
Scrap today
£0.53/kg

About 18% chromium and 8–10.5% nickel. Kitchen sinks, catering equipment, tanks, balustrades and architectural trim are almost always 304. It is the reference grade: stockholders quote everything else as a premium or discount to it, and yards price it as a percentage of LME nickel.

Identify it: Non-magnetic (a magnet slides off or barely grips). Will not rust in a kitchen. Indistinguishable from 316 without a certificate or XRF.

316 stainless steel price

marine grade, A4

New
£5.00 – £6.50/kg sheet · £7 – £12/kg bar · £8 – £12/kg cut to size
Scrap today
£1.13/kg

Adds 2–3% molybdenum and pushes nickel to 10–14%. Used wherever salt or chlorides attack 304: boat fittings, coastal balustrades, chemical plant, brewery and pharmaceutical kit, surgical instruments. New 316 costs 40–50% more than 304 and pays roughly double as scrap.

Identify it: Also non-magnetic. Look for "316" etched on fittings or printed on the mill certificate. Yards confirm the molybdenum with an XRF gun.

430 stainless steel price

ferritic, the cheap stainless

New
£1.80 – £2.50/kg sheet
Scrap today
Priced as steel, not stainless

17% chromium and almost no nickel, so it costs roughly half the price of 304 new and is the grade behind cheap splashbacks, appliance panels, trim and some cutlery. Because the value in stainless scrap is the nickel, yards pay ferrous prices for 430 rather than stainless prices.

Identify it: Magnetic. If a magnet sticks firmly to shiny "stainless", it is 430 or another ferritic grade, and it is worth pence per kilo as scrap.

Stainless Steel Scrap Prices — £/kg & £/tonne Today

GradePrice / kg
316 Stainless
Marine Grade
£1.13
304 Stainless
18/8 Stainless
£0.534
Mixed Stainless
Turnings, Mixed
Awaiting data
Last updated: 2 October 2026, 05:42 UK time

Yards price 316 highest, then 304, then mixed stainless (lowest) for unsorted items, turnings and swarf, because someone has to sort it. Bulk loads are quoted per tonne (multiply the £/kg by 1,000). For scrap yard prices across every metal, including copper, brass and aluminium, our sister site keeps the definitive stainless steel scrap price per kg page.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much is stainless steel per kg in the UK?

It depends whether you are buying or selling. New 304 stainless sheet costs from about £3.70/kg ex VAT when bought as a full 2500 × 1250 mm sheet, and £6–10/kg cut to size or polished (September 2026). 316 runs roughly 40–50% more. Sold as scrap, 304 pays £0.53/kg and 316 pays £1.13/kg at UK yards today.

What is the cost of 1 kg of stainless steel?

Roughly £4–10 for 1 kg of new 304 stainless from a UK stockholder, depending on form: full sheets and larger bar sit at the bottom of that range, small-section bar, tube and polished finishes at the top. 316 is £5–12/kg. A single kilogram of scrap stainless is worth £0.53/kg (304) to £1.13/kg (316).

What is the price of 304 stainless steel per kg?

New 304 stainless steel: about £3.70–4.50/kg for full sheets, £4–8/kg for round bar over 20 mm, and £6–10/kg cut to size (September 2026, ex VAT). 304 scrap pays £0.53/kg at UK yards today. 304 (18/8) is the everyday grade found in sinks, catering equipment and architectural trim, with 8–10.5% nickel.

What is the price of 316 stainless steel per kg?

New 316 stainless steel: about £5.00–6.50/kg for full sheets, £7–12/kg for round bar and £8–12/kg cut to size (September 2026, ex VAT). 316 scrap pays £1.13/kg today, the highest of the common stainless grades. The premium over 304 is the 2–3% molybdenum and higher nickel that give 316 its resistance to salt water and chlorides.

Why is new stainless steel so much more expensive than the scrap price?

A yard pays for the metal content only, then has to sort, bale and sell it on to a mill. The mill melts it, adds the alloying elements, casts, hot-rolls, cold-rolls, anneals and pickles it, and a stockholder then cuts, finishes and delivers it. Each step adds cost and margin, which is why finished 304 sheet costs five to ten times what the same weight fetches as scrap.

Is stainless steel cheaper than mild steel?

No. New mild steel sheet from a stockholder is roughly £1.50–3.00/kg, while 304 stainless is £3.70–10/kg and 316 is higher again. 430 ferritic stainless (£1.80 – £2.50/kg for sheet) is the cheap stainless because it contains almost no nickel, which is also why it is worth little as scrap.

How can I tell 304 from 316 stainless steel?

You cannot by eye. Both are non-magnetic austenitic grades with the same finish. Suppliers mark 316 on the mill certificate and often etch the grade on the surface. Scrap yards use an XRF analyser to read the molybdenum content, which is what separates 316 from 304 and what earns it roughly double the scrap price.

What is stainless steel worth as scrap?

304 stainless is worth £0.53/kg and 316 £1.13/kg as scrap in the UK today; mixed or unsorted stainless pays less. A stainless sink (10–15 kg) is worth roughly £5–9, a commercial worktop (40–60 kg) £18–36. Clean, sorted material paid per grade always beats a mixed load.

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