Chennai Scrap Rate Today – 1 October 2026 | Iron Scrap, HMS & Melting Scrap Prices
Chennai is the one Indian scrap market where the import price is the local price. BigMint tracks HMS 80:20 from Australia and West Africa on a CFR Chennai basis; in the week to 26 September containerised HMS into India was offered at $365–375/t CFR, about ₹35,000–36,000/MT at USD/INR 95.97 before duty, clearing and inland freight. Steel Baba does not hold a verified domestic Chennai scrap quotation for 1 October 2026 and will not print one. Domestic Chennai bids sit below landed import cost – the question is by how much, and that moves with the rupee and freight.
$365–375/t
🟠 IMPORTED HMS 80:20 CFR · BIGMINT 26 SEPT
≈ ₹35,000–36,000
CFR VALUE AT USD/INR 95.97 · BEFORE DUTY & CLEARING
₹38,800
🟢 JALNA PUNCHING · NATIONAL MILL REFERENCE
₹95.97
USD/INR · 1 OCT
Where Steel Baba has no verified quotation for a city on the day, this page says so instead of printing a number. Different bases are never averaged.
What We Can Verify for Chennai Today
Dated figures only · the market this city prices against
| Market / grade | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Chennai port – HMS 80:20, Australia / W. Africa origin, containers | tracked by BigMint (CFR Chennai); national offers $365–375/t | 🟠 BigMint weekly, 26 Sept |
| CFR value in rupees | ≈ ₹35,000–36,000/MT before duty, clearing, inland freight | Arithmetic at USD/INR 95.97 |
| Chennai – PDRI sponge (DAP Chennai) | tracked daily by BigMint; value paywalled | 🟠 Reference only |
| Gummidipoondi / Sriperumbudur / Oragadam – auto-belt scrap | not re-verified; busheling and stampings carry a premium | ⚪ dealer bands only |
How the Chennai Scrap Market Actually Works
Who buys, what competes, and where the freight sits
Chennai’s furnaces can choose between a container and a truck, every day. Ennore and Kamarajar ports put imported HMS, shredded and busheling within an hour of the Gummidipoondi and Ponneri furnace belt. That means the local scrap bid can never sit far above landed import cost for long; when the rupee weakens (₹95.97 today, the weak end of its range) imports get dearer and domestic bids gain room, and when freight falls the reverse happens within days.
Auto-industry scrap is the premium stream. Sriperumbudur, Oragadam and Maraimalai Nagar generate press-shop stampings, busheling and clean offcuts that are low in contamination and high in density – exactly what a furnace wants and what commands a premium over yard-mixed material. Sellers with that stream should quote it separately, never blended into a mixed load.
Sponge is the second competitor. BigMint prices PDRI delivered Chennai; southern furnaces blend it the same way Hyderabad’s do, so the national sponge-to-scrap spread (about ₹4,400/MT on 23 September) caps what ordinary mixed scrap fetches here as well. Clean, sorted, dry material is the way through both caps.
National Reference Prices – 1 October 2026
The verified anchors every Indian scrap quote is measured against
| Market / grade | ₹/MT | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jalna – Punching (mill sheet) | ₹38,800 | +300 vs 26 Sept sheet | 🟢 Mill setting sheet, 1 Oct |
| Jalna – Melting / Super (mill sheet) | ₹36,800 / ₹35,800 | +300 | 🟢 Mill setting sheet, 1 Oct |
| Mandi Gobindgarh – End cutting | ₹41,000 | +300 d-o-d; +1,500 w-o-w | 🔵 Quoted 1 Oct, ScrapMarket agrees · 🟠 BigMint index ₹41,600 DAP (26 Sept) |
| Mandi Gobindgarh – Old scrap / MS ingot | ₹36,000 / ₹48,400–48,500 | +300 | 🔵 Quoted 1 Oct |
| Mumbai – HMS 80:20 | ₹36,500 DAP | stable d-o-d | 🟠 BigMint, 23 Sept |
| Imported HMS 80:20, CFR India | $365–375/t (≈ ₹38,200 landed incl. freight) | need-based buying | 🟠 BigMint weekly, 26 Sept |
| USD/INR | ₹95.97 | +0.09 | Indicative, 1 Oct 11:00 AM IST |
Three things are true across India this week and apply here. Semis firmed first – MS ingot is ₹1,200–2,000/MT higher than a week ago in six tracked markets and BigMint reported blast-furnace rebar rising on low mill inventories – so furnace bids for prepared scrap are recovering with a lag. Imports are not competing: containerised HMS at $365–375/t CFR lands near ₹38,200/MT and mills are buying need-based. And the recovery is from a low base: mills had cut procurement 50–60% in late September on oversupply (BigMint, 23 Sept), so two weeks of small rises is a direction, not yet a rally.
Selling Scrap Safely in Chennai
The four checks that remove most of the risk
| Insist on | Why |
|---|---|
| Rate agreed by named grade before loading | Stops a regrade at the gate from rewriting the deal |
| Certified weighbridge slip | A 150 kg dispute on one truck is ₹5,000–6,000 at today’s rates |
| Tax invoice with GSTIN | Required for input credit; a buyer paying without one is discounting your material |
| Payment timing in writing | 30–60 day terms cost 2–4% of the load in money terms alone |
Chennai Scrap Rate FAQs
Steel Baba does not hold a verified domestic Chennai quotation for 1 October 2026 and does not publish one. Chennai prices against imported HMS, which BigMint tracks on a CFR Chennai basis; national containerised HMS offers were $365–375/t CFR in the week to 26 September, roughly ₹35,000–36,000/MT at USD/INR 95.97 before duty and clearing. Domestic bids sit below landed import cost.
Because Ennore and Kamarajar ports are next to the Gummidipoondi furnace belt and furnaces can switch between local and imported material quickly. Landed import cost is the ceiling; the rupee and container freight move that ceiling week to week.
Press-shop stampings, busheling and clean offcuts from the Sriperumbudur–Oragadam auto belt: dense, dry, low-contamination material that melts cleanly. Quote it separately from mixed yard scrap.
Selling bulk iron scrap from Chennai? Get a grade-wise quote against today’s mill sheet.
Send grade, approximate tonnage and location. We tell you plainly whether a Jalna sale beats your local bid after freight – and if it does not, we say so.