Steel Price Per Tonne UK
“Steel price per tonne” means three very different numbers, from under £100 to over £3,000. Here is which one you need.
Last updated 25 July 2026, 18:25 UK time
Quick Answer
In the UK there is no single steel price per tonne. Scrap steel sold to a yard fetches £75–220/tonne depending on grade (HMS 1 is £145/tonne today). New steel leaving a mill as hot-rolled coil is around £620/tonne. The same steel bought cut-to-size from a retailer works out at roughly £3,000–4,000/tonne, because you pay for cutting, small quantities and delivery. If you are selling old steel you want the first figure; if you are buying a beam for a build you want the last.
The Three UK Steel Prices Per Tonne
| Type | £ / tonne |
|---|---|
| Scrap steel | £75 – £220 / tonneLive average |
| New steel, ex-mill | ~£620 / tonneIndicative |
| New steel, merchant trade | Quote onlyIndicative |
| New steel, cut-to-size retail | ~£3,000 – £4,000 / tonneIndicative |
Only the scrap row is a live aggregated average. The new-steel rows are dated reference points, not a live index — see why below.
Live Scrap Steel Prices — £/tonne by Grade
| Grade | Price / kg | ||
|---|---|---|---|
HMS 1 Heavy Steel, Heavy Iron | £0.145 | ||
HMS 2 Light Steel, Mix Iron | £0.080 | ||
Light Iron Tin Cans, White Goods | £0.075 | ||
Cast Iron Radiators, Manhole Covers | £0.155 | ||
P&S (Plate & Structural) Girders, Heavy Plate | Awaiting data | ||
These are national averages aggregated from UK scrap yards. For the full grade breakdown, regional variation and what each grade covers, see UK scrap steel prices today.
Per Ton or Per Tonne?
These are different units and the gap is wide enough to matter on a full load. A metric tonne is 1,000 kg and is the UK standard for both scrap and new steel. A UK long ton is 1016 kg, so the same steel costs about 1.6% more per long ton. A US short ton is 907 kg, about 9.3% less.
Worked example at today’s HMS 1 rate of £145/tonne: that is £147.32 per UK long ton, or £131.51 per US short ton.
In practice, a UK yard or merchant quoting “per ton” almost always means the metric tonne. It is worth confirming on a large load, but you are unlikely to be quoted in imperial units.
Working Out £/Tonne From a Merchant’s Price
Steel merchants list structural sections per metre, not per tonne, which makes comparison awkward. The conversion is straightforward because the section designation already tells you the mass.
A 152 x 89 x 16 universal beam is 152 mm deep, 89 mm wide and 16 kg per metre — that third number is the mass, not a dimension. So:
A beam listed at £59/metre is therefore £59 ÷ 16 × 1,000 ≈ £3,690/tonne. Run the same sum across two or three merchants and the genuinely cheaper one becomes obvious, which list prices alone rarely reveal.
Our steel weight calculator will give you the mass for sections and plate that do not state it in the designation.
Why There Is No Live New-Steel Price Here
We publish live aggregated prices for scrap because dozens of UK yards post their rates openly, so a genuine national average can be built and checked. New steel does not work that way.
UK mills announce price changes for individual products a few times a year. That is one company’s list price rather than a market average, and quoting it as “the” UK steel price would be misleading. The real market indices — Fastmarkets, MEPS and Kallanish — are subscription products, and their numbers are licensed data we are not free to republish. Stockholders and merchants quote rather than publish, so trade prices are not openly available either.
That leaves online retail list prices, which are published and plentiful but carry a heavy cut-to-size and small-order premium — roughly five times the ex-mill figure. Presenting those as the UK steel price would be just as misleading in the other direction.
So the new-steel figures on this page are dated reference points with their basis stated, and the scrap figures are live. We would rather label the difference than blur it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of steel per tonne in the UK?
It depends which steel you mean, and the three answers are far apart. Scrap steel sold to a yard fetches roughly £75–220/tonne depending on grade. New steel leaving a UK mill as hot-rolled coil is around £620/tonne as of July 2026. New steel bought cut-to-size from an online stockholder works out at roughly £3,000–4,000/tonne, because you are paying for cutting, small quantities and delivery on top of the metal. Most people asking this question want either the first or the last figure, rarely the middle one.
What is the price of steel per ton in the UK?
"Ton" and "tonne" are different units, which matters at these values. A metric tonne is 1,000 kg. A UK (long) ton is 1,016 kg, so a price per long ton is about 1.6% higher than the same price per tonne. A US (short) ton is 907 kg, about 9.3% lower. UK steel and scrap are priced in metric tonnes as standard — if a UK yard or merchant quotes you "per ton" they almost always mean the metric tonne.
Why can I not find a live price for new steel per tonne?
Because nobody publishes one openly. UK mills announce price changes for specific products a few times a year, which is a single source rather than a market average. The genuine market indices — Fastmarkets, MEPS, Kallanish — are subscription products whose numbers are licensed and cannot be republished. Stockholders and merchants quote rather than publish, so their trade prices are not on the open web either. The only new-steel prices published openly are online retail list prices, which carry a large cut-to-size and small-order premium.
How do I work out the price per tonne from a price per metre?
Divide the price per metre by the section mass in kg per metre, then multiply by 1,000. Structural sections encode their own mass in the designation: a 152 x 89 x 16 universal beam is 16 kg per metre. So a beam listed at £59 per metre is £59 ÷ 16 × 1,000 = roughly £3,690 per tonne. This is the quickest way to sanity-check whether a merchant quote is competitive.
Why is scrap steel worth so much less than new steel per tonne?
Scrap is a raw input, not a finished product. A yard buying your scrap has to sort, shear, transport and resell it to a mill, which then has to melt, alloy and roll it before it becomes a saleable section. The gap between the £75–220/tonne a yard pays and the £600+/tonne a mill charges covers all of that processing, plus energy, which is a large share of UK steelmaking cost.
Is steel getting more expensive in the UK?
UK steel pricing has been unusually volatile since the Port Talbot blast furnaces closed in September 2024 and the UK shifted toward imported primary steel. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which began applying to imports in January 2026, adds further cost to some import routes. Scrap prices move with the CFR Turkey benchmark and can shift week to week; new steel prices move in steps when mills announce changes.