The February 2026 Fastmarkets report is out for the Philadelphia market a bit earlier than usual and the news continues to be good for scrap steel pricing!
Domestic steel is up for the third month in a row! Now, this is really not a huge surprise and does follow a typical seasonal trend that we detailed in this youtube short in December 2025. We are hoping to buck the trend of winter increases that tail off throughout the year, but for now let’s just enjoy what we have!
So what is HMS #1 steel and what is going on in pricing for that market? HMS #1 steel or heavy melt is bought as unprepared steel or prepared steel (under 2×3 feet and dense), meaning heavier wall than light gauge material that we buy as light iron. Our industrial customers have prepared steel prices ranging from $220-$260 (9.8-11.6 cents per pound) a gross ton based on quality, tonnage and density. Smaller amounts for this prepared steel would be in the 8-9 cent per pound area. Sahd Metal Recycling publishes a price list so anyone from a farmer in New Holland to a resident in Leola can click on and find prices, what we accept and don’t accept and tips on how to get more for your metal here.
(For a look at a video Todd and Jeremy created on this scrap metal uptick click here.
This category is represented on Fastmarkets by heavy melt #1 and here’s a price trend from November:
As you can see this category and all domestic steel scrap prices are on a three month tear–up $80 a gross ton! This means a steel fabricator manufacturing in Lancaster or York can increase the value of their scrap metal by nearly 4 cents per pound. This can create extra value for your company in an environment where other budget lines (electricity!, freight and benefits) are growing too fast!
The Upfront Formula pricing sheet that Aileen sends out is our communication and promise to let our customers know the value of their metal before they sell to us. Aileen is sending out pricing updates to all of our industrial customers today, so when they call in for our rapid 24 hour turnaround guarantee for service they already know the value of their metal! This is our promise to every commercial or industrial scrap metal customer in our Lancaster/York/Dauphin/Lebanon County region
You may ask why a scrap yard in Lancaster County, PA would be bound by something called the Philadelphia market? The Philadelphia market for scrap pricing includes our local region of Harrisburg, Lancaster and York so these prices are valid in our trading area, which spans New Holland and Leola to the east, Ephrata and Reading to the north, Willow Street and Quarryville to the south and York and Mechanicsburg to the west. All scrap generated by our fabrication shops, farmers and other industrial and commercial applications are processed here in our yard in Columbia and shipped to a varitey of places. For steel we have foundries in Columbia and Wrightsville and Mount Joy that we work with and with our rail connections we can ship anywhere the Norfolk Southern line goes to the southeast. The cost of freight is what really determines where our processed material will go.
And why do these scrap metal outlets matter to a steel fabricator in Mount Joy, PA? Because the scrap metal dealer who can get the highest net price (price for scrap metal minus freight cost to get it there) allows that dealer to pay you more for your scrap. That’s why we work so hard for finding the right scrap sale, so we can pay our customers the most money we can for their metal.
So, 2026 is really starting out great for scrap metal pricing! Here’s to hoping this uptick continues and while copper, aluminum and stainless scrap have stolen the headlines in January, it looks like scrap steel pricing will be the story of February 2026!
