There is no answer to this question.
Metal prices are set globally, and can change hourly.
Bigger scrap yards have a computer constantly updating global prices, and can often change what they pay, and what they sell metal for more than once in a day.
Global prices for NEW aluminum, or steel, or brass, are based on buying 40,000lbs at a time, deliverable in London.
Obviously, nobody gets it delivered in London- so where you live affects prices a LOT.
If you live a mile down the road from an aluminum plant, you are probably gonna pay as much as a buck or two a pound less than somebody in Hawaii or Alaska.
But even small regional distances can affect prices for small quantities. I used to know a junk yard owner who personally drove a 40' truck 200 miles to deliver his scrap to a bigger yard. Obviously the price he paid for scrap was much less than the big yard in the big city- he had to pay for time and diesel.
Same thing applies for selling- if the nearest distributor is 200 miles from you, expect a deliver charge of $35 or $50 or $100 to be attached to every order.
Which brings us to volume.
Buy a cutoff, pay a lot.
Buy a 12' or 20' full length, depending on material (aluminum, stainless and copper alloys are usually 12 footers, mild steel usually 20 footers), pay less per pound.
Buy a 1000lbs, or 10,000lbs, expect price breaks per pound.
Many materials have different per pound prices depending on shape.
A commonly used shape, like 1/4" plate, is often much cheaper than an oddball shape.
Can be as much as double per pound.
I buy a fair amount of stainless steel- and the cheapest is round bar- which, on a given day, may be $2.25 a pound (theoretical- I dont know what it is today) but on that same day, a square bar might be $4.50 a pound. Square always costs more, in stainless. Its used less, so less economy of scale, and its harder to make accurately.
Similar price differences between different alloys of aluminum, and different shapes.
Prices can be slewed by what is used locally to you in quantity. A local plant might use 100 tons a year of some oddball shape, so your local guys get it cheaper, and stock it, but I might have to special order the same thing at 30% more.
The only answer is to call your local suppliers and ask for a quote. Compare quotes. And always buy in as big of orders as you can swing.
Big enough orders, and it can pay to order nationally- usually, when I am ordering more than a ton of material, shipping from San Francisco, or even the midwest, is less than local price differences, and I end up ordering some things from 1000 miles away or more.
