How Much is Brass Per Pound? (Scrap Metal Prices)

Brass is a valuable metal commodity that can be used in many different projects and applications. The price of brass in 2022 ranges from about $.20 per pound to over $2.00 per pound.

The quality, type, and source all have a large impact on the price of brass. Solid brass is almost always worth more than other types of scrap brass. The lowest priced brass is irony brass scrap at around 20 cents per pound. The highest priced brass is yellow brass solids scrap, at around $2.30 per pound.

The national average price of brass in 2022 is $1.68 per pound in the US.

Since brass is a commodity, its’ price can vary significantly over time based on market conditions. However, the relative prices of different brasses is less likely to change and are based on several different factors. It is important to understand these factors if you want to get the best price, whether you are buying or selling.

Current Price of Brass in the US

The Producer Price Index is one of the most reliable ways of gauging the value of brass and is produced by the Federal Reserve.

The following chart comes directly from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) Producer Price Index of Yellow Brass Scrap:

Factors That Determine Brass Prices

There are several important things to consider when it comes to getting the best price for brass. These include the type, grade, and processing of the brass as well as the location.

For these reasons, you may want to shop around when you are buying or selling brass. The scrap value can be highly dependent on how the brass is processed and the local competition.

Because the main component of brass is copper, brass prices are dependent on the price of copper scrap.

Types of Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc but commonly contains other metals as well. Zinc is added to copper in order to make it more stronger and more ductile. The composition of brass determines the type as well as the color and material properties.

The two main categories of brass are red brass and yellow brass. Within these categories there are many different types and alloys. For example, semi-red brass indicates a red brass of lesser quality than a pure brass.

Red Brass

Red brass contains the highest amount of copper, which is why it is often the most expensive type of brass. Red brass contains more than 80% copper, 2-4% zinc, 8-10% tin, and small amounts of lead. The high amount of copper is what gives red brass its color. The copper on the surface reacts with oxygen in air, creating a layer of copper oxide. This is why red brass appears reddish in color.

Red brass can commonly be found in plumbing fixtures and valves.

Yellow Brass

Yellow brass contains less copper than red brass but can sometimes be just as expensive. Yellow brass contains 60-70% copper and 30-40% zinc, tin and lead. Yellow brass is the most common type of brass.

Like red brass, yellow brass is used in plumbing but can also commonly be found in decorative pieces.

Solid, Mixed, and Clean Brass

Another way to classify brass scrap that has a huge impact on price is whether it is solid or mixed, and how clean it is. Solid brass refers to brass that is comprised of a single type. Mixed brass is a combination of different brasses within a type; for example, several different types, sources, and grades of yellow brass.

The cleanliness of the brass will also have a large impact on the price. This isn’t just about dirt; whether or not the brass has been soldered, brazed, chemically or thermally treated can have a huge impact on its overall quality and processability.

A good way to think about this is from the perspective of the metallurgy itself. An ideal piece of brass is pure and consistent. The more it is mixed with other materials, the less ideal it is and the more difficult it is to process. For example, dirt can be regarded as a combination of silicon, clays, organic materials, and other minerals. These materials are contaminants that can become defects during the recycling process. If we think about it from this perspective, we can see why cleaner brass is much more valuable.

Grades of Brass

Companies produce more specific, highly controlled grades of brass that influence material properties like strength, ductility, and corrosion resistance. This helps manufacturers select the best alloy for their applications. In general the more expensive the grade of brass is to produce, the more expensive it will also be in scrap form.

Alloys come are designated by number, and are standardized in the industry.

For example, Alloy 260 is known as cartridge brass and is commonly used in munitions, automotive applications, and hardware. Alloy 464 is commonly known as naval brass due to its anti-corrosion properties. Alloy 464 can be up to 10x the price of Alloy 260.

• Alloy 260. Known as ‘cartridge brass’, Alloy 260 has great cold-working properties. It is commonly used in cars, munitions, and hardware.
• Alloy 272. Commonly known as ‘yellow brass’, Alloy 272 has a 33% zinc composition. It is used in architectural as well as industrial applications.
• Alloy 330. Alloy 330 is primarily used in applications where high machinability is critical. It has a low lead content to aid in cold-working and is commonly used in making pipes.
• Alloy 353. Alloy 353 also has excellent machinability. It is therefore used to fabricate precision components like clock and watch parts which is why it is commonly known as ‘clock brass’.
• Alloy 360. Known as ‘free cutting brass’, Alloy 360 has excellent machinability and formability properties. It is particularly suitable for brazing and soldering, and can be found in fasteners, valves, and fittings.
• Alloy 385. Commonly known as ‘architectural bronze’, Alloy 385 is used in architecture and construction.
• Alloy 464. Known as ‘naval brass’, Alloy 464 is known for its excellent resistance to saltwater corrosion.
• Alloy C48200 – C48500. Leaded naval brass used for machining.

Location

The price of brass can be highly dependent on location. If there is no local competition in the area, the price of brass can be very low. The more scrap yards that process brass are in an area, the more they have to compete with each other, driving the price up.

In addition, the price can also depend on how and what kind of processing is done by the scrap yard. Larger, more capable yards can extract higher quality and priced metals from the scraps they receive while using less resources. However due to their size they may also receive more scraps in general.

Other Factors That Affect The Current Price of Brass Per Pound

The current scrap prices of brass are highly dependent on your location, so be sure to research online and also call around to local yards.

The price of brass is often correlated with current scrap metal prices in general, as there are often market-wide factors. Brass is one of the non-ferrous metals traded as commodities so it is good to do some research into current market conditions of these specific materials so you can find good prices, especially for large projects.

How to Find Brass

The following is a list of excellent places to find brass:

1. Shooting Ranges – The ammunition shells (scrap brass shells) collected by shooting ranges are excellent sources of brass because they can be consistent, reliable, and free! You can develop a relationship with local ranges to come and collect their waste brass for them. It is a service they often require, and this reliablity can be a cornerstone of a successful scrapping business or side-hustle.
2. Individual Sales and Freebies – You can often find people giving away old plumbing and furniture or architectural fixtures for free. Check craigslist or the facebook marketplace regularly, and offer to come and pick up scrap materials from people for free. It may be a good idea to identify local areas where people have a harder time disposing of larger items. These are cases where you can do people a huge favor by collecting old pieces of brass as well as any other type of metals. Copper wire, door handles, aluminum siding, aluminum cans, stainless steel parts, or any other types of scrap metal are great to collect and sell along with brass.
3. Estate and yard sales – These are great for picking up large amounts of scrap materials for great prices. You want to try to buy brass material at cheap prices or in bulk. Sellers will often let go of entire boxes of scrap material for a few cents, depending on the quality and usability of the materials themselves. Other overlooked example that are common at estate and yard sales are musical instruments, bed frames and brass radiators. Many kinds of hard metal can be sold for profit.
4. HVAC, heaters, small electric motors, water meters – Don’t overlook applications like scrap hvac systems or anything with electric motors. These can be excellent sources of other sources of common metals that can be sold for a tidy profit.

How to Sell Brass

I’ve tried to highlight the importance of carefully choosing where to sell your brass. This is particularly important if you are trying to identify a single, or a small number of local scrap yards to sell your brass to. This is a case where a business may have a single customer, but you get to choose that customer! So do this wisely; don’t assume that your closest yard is the best for you.

It’s a good idea to develop relationships with several of the scrap yards and pawn shops in your area.

Start by looking up all the scrap yards, scrap metal container services, and pawn shops in your area. Sell a few items to each, and in varying conditions. Talk to them about what they expect, what they like to see, and what you can do to get the best price possible.

This can help you figure out who is willing to pay more for what, and the expected conditions. For example, one yard may be more willing to pay for less-than-perfectly clean scraps, but another yard might require and be willing to pay much more for cleaner scraps. Pawn shops will often pay more for useable objects than scrap yards will for the base metals. You can decide where you want to spend your sweat equity; finding and transporting dirtier scraps, and when it is best to invest time and energy into cleaning scraps to fetch a higher price.