SMASH Recycling Morning Metals Report – May 15, 2026
Prices as of May 15, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC.
Market screen levels only — not yard pay prices. Actual buy prices at the scale will differ based on grade, moisture, contamination, and freight. The scrolling ticker at the top of this page shows live prices and may differ from the snapshot below.
All tracked metals are lower today.
Jump to:
- Gold — $4,550/oz ▼
- Silver — $78.29/oz ▼
- PGMs — Rh ▼ $9,925 · Pt ▼ $1,981 · Pd ▼ $1,402
- Copper — $6.31/lb ▼
- Aluminum — $1.62/lb ▼
- Steel Scrap — $413.00/mt ▸
- Macro Backdrop
- CAD — USD/CAD 1.3725
SMASH Recycling Takeaways for Today
- Gold & Silver — Both are down hard; hold clean scrap for now and only sell if you need cash or fear more forced selling.
- PGMs — With platinum, palladium, and rhodium all lower, pause large converter and PGM scrap loads and wait for a steadier day.
- Copper — Big 4% drop; stop dumping #1 bare bright and heavy copper and focus on small, cash‑flow loads only.
- Aluminum — After my bad “sell the edge-up” call, shift to patience: keep UBCs and clean extrusion back unless storage is tight.
- Big Picture — All major metals are red or flat today, so treat this as a buyer’s market and avoid bulk selling if you can.
Macro Backdrop — Energy and Risk
Brent Crude Oil: $108.05/bbl, up $1.85 (+1.74%) day-over-day.
Macro Backdrop — Energy and Risk
Brent crude is up again, near $108, gaining almost 2% overnight. Higher fuel costs keep squeezing trucking and processing, so yards should expect more pressure on freight and shear costs. India’s wholesale inflation just hit a 3.5‑year high on fuel, a sign that energy is biting hard in big metal‑using countries too.
CPI in the U.S. is still grinding higher, so inflation is not gone. The U.S. dollar sits around 1.37 vs. the Canadian dollar, which can shift cross‑border scrap flows and export math for northern yards. Overall, energy is hot, inflation is warm, and that keeps risk high but also supports hard‑asset demand over time.
Gold — Safe-Haven Indicator
- Spot Gold (XAU): $4,550/oz, down $105.50 (-2.27%) day-over-day. Previous close: $4,656/oz.
- 5-day trend: ↓ 4 of last 5 sessions.
Gold is softer today at $4,550 an ounce, down about 2.3% on the day. That may slow some scrap buying, but gold is still very high, so sellers can still lock in strong values. Rising fuel costs can also lift trucking and plant costs for recyclers, so bids may stay tight.
Silver — Industrial & Precious Hybrid
- Spot Silver (XAG): $78.29/oz, down $5.45 (-6.51%) day-over-day. Previous close: $83.74/oz.
- 5-day trend: ↓ 3 of last 5 sessions.
- Gold/Silver ratio: 58.1:1.
Silver is down hard today, around $78/oz, off more than 6%, and it’s been weak in 3 of the last 5 sessions. With fuel costs and freight still climbing, yards may see buy prices tighten, so sellers with low-grade or slow-moving silver scrap might move some now, while higher-grade material can wait for a possible bounce.
Precious Metals (PGM) — Screen Indicators
- Platinum (Pt): $1,981/oz, down $81.00 (-3.93%) day-over-day. Previous close: $2,062/oz. MoM: -6.2%.
- Platinum 5-day trend: ↓ 3 of last 5 sessions.
- Palladium (Pd): $1,402/oz, down $24.00 (-1.68%) day-over-day. Previous close: $1,426/oz. MoM: -9.3%.
- Palladium 5-day trend: ↓ 3 of last 5 sessions.
- Rhodium (Rh): $9,925/oz, down $50.00 (-0.50%) day-over-day. Previous close: $9,975/oz. MoM: -0.2%.
- Rhodium 5-day trend: → flat over last 5 sessions.
PGM prices are softer today. Platinum and palladium both fell, and rhodium was only flat. Scrap sellers may want to move material now, since high fuel costs are still adding pressure to trucking and processing.
Copper — Current Indicators
- COMEX/Spot Copper: $6.31/lb, down $0.2680 (-4.07%) day-over-day. Previous close: $6.58/lb.
- 5-day trend: ↓ 3 of last 5 sessions.
Copper is still very strong at about $6.31 per pound, even after dropping roughly 27 cents and slipping in three of the last five sessions. With prices off the peak and fuel costs jumping, yards may trim what they pay, so sellers with clean, high-grade copper should shop around but not rush to dump everything at once.
Aluminum — Current Indicators
- LME Aluminum: $3,579/tonne ($1.62/lb), down $0.0336 (-2.03%) day-over-day. Previous close: $1.66/lb.
- 5-day trend: ↓ 3 of last 5 sessions.
Aluminum is around $1.62 per pound, down about 3 cents and lower in 3 of the last 5 days. With prices slipping and fuel costs rising, scrap yards may push buy prices down, so sellers should be ready for tighter offers and move material if they need cash flow.
Steel Scrap (Shredded (SHS), scrapmonster) — Current Indicators
- Steel Scrap Shredded (SHS) (SCRAP-SHS): $413.00/mt, flat day-over-day. Previous close: $413.00/mt.
- 5-day trend: → flat over last 5 sessions.
- HMS 1&2 (80:20) (SCRAP-HM): $366.00/mt (flat day-over-day).
⚠️ Note: Silver (6.5%) show unusually large day-over-day moves. Illiquid markets (e.g. rhodium) can have wide bid-ask spreads; verify with multiple sources before acting.
Want to move PGM-bearing material, copper, aluminum, or steel scrap through competitive bidding? List your lots on SMASH Recycling and let vetted Canadian buyers compete for your scrap.
