How these estimates are built

1. The market data

Copper comes from FRED series PCOPPUSDM (IMF Global Price of Copper, USD per metric ton). We convert to dollars per pound with value / 2204.62 and keep the observation month. Aluminum and zinc prefer MetalpriceAPI (ALU, ZNC, base USD), converted to dollars per pound. MetalpriceAPI's free plan rejects copper (XCU), so that metal is never requested there. If MetalpriceAPI rejects aluminum or zinc, that metal falls back to FRED PALUMUSDM or PZINCUSDM with the same $/t conversion. One metal failing does not blank the others. A cron job is the only caller. Pages never fetch the APIs on view. The snapshot is reused for a day. If a live pull is missing, the board shows a labeled placeholder instead of a made-up spot.

Source: International Monetary Fund via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

2. The grade cut

Yards do not pay cathode price for pipe with solder on it. Phase 1 grades use published payout ranges of the relevant spot: bare bright 75–85%, #1 copper 70–80%, #2 copper 60–72%, aluminum extrusion 45–60%, UBC 30–45%, yellow brass 50–62% of copper. Those percentages are estimates. They are not a survey of yards.

3. The state tier

A freight-and-demand index around 1.00. Hub states (Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, California, New Jersey) sit between 1.00 and 1.03. Most states use 0.97. Remote states use 0.92. Alaska and Hawaii use 0.85. The index is a model, not an average of scale tickets.

4. HMS #1 steel

Ferrous does not follow the daily nonferrous spot. HMS #1 is a manual monthly dollars-per-ton estimate. Until that number is set, the board shows “estimate coming soon.” Light iron, stainless, lead, batteries, insulated wire, aluminum sheet, and red brass are out of Phase 1.

What this is not

Not a scale-house board. Not a bid. Two yards on the same road can disagree by more than our whole state spread. FindScrapGuy does not buy metal. If you want a person instead of a range, send photos.