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Inconel, Hastelloy and Monel scrap: what sets the price
An Inconel scrap price rests on the nickel market, the other metals in that grade, and how cleanly the lot is sorted and labeled. We buy Inconel, Hastelloy, Monel, Waspaloy and other nickel alloys as solids, turnings, blades and rings, and we pay the shipping from anywhere in the US: send photos and a rough weight for a quote.
What moves an Inconel scrap price
We do not post a number; no single figure fits two lots. Four things move it.
The nickel market
Nickel is the base metal of Inconel, Hastelloy, Waspaloy and Monel. In Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, USGS estimated that the 2025 annual average LME nickel cash price fell about 11% from 2024, extending a slide from the 2022 highs.
The rest of the recipe
Chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, niobium and tungsten each have their own market. In the same 2026 edition, USGS estimated that 51% of the cobalt consumed in the United States in 2025 went into superalloys, mostly for aircraft gas turbine engines.
Whether it can go back into the same alloy
Of the superalloy scrap processed worldwide in 1996, USGS reported, roughly 70 percent went back into the same alloy, 20 percent was downgraded (used for a product of lower value) and 10 percent was sold to nickel refineries. Processed scrap has to meet the same chemical requirements as the finished heat, so the melter needs to know exactly what each lot is.
Form and cleanliness
USGS notes that "each piece of superalloy scrap must be identified and its composition certified before it is sold". For turnings, the first step is a purity check that sets badly contaminated material apart from clean; the clean chips are then crushed and washed of cutting fluid and dirt.
Sources: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: nickel; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: cobalt; USGS Circular 1196-A-M: metal recycling flow studies; USGS Circular 1196-Z: nickel recycling.
Inconel, Hastelloy, Monel and Waspaloy: what they are
Inconel, Hastelloy and Waspaloy are superalloys, which keep most of their strength even after long exposure above 650 °C (1,200 °F). USGS names three major classes, nickel-based, iron-based and cobalt-based. Monel is a different family: nickel-copper alloys that can be hardened by cold working.
| Alloy | What USGS lists | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Inconel 718 | Nickel-base superalloy, about 5% niobium (once called columbium) | Jet engines, where alloys like it can be 40 to 50% of engine weight |
| Waspaloy | About 58% nickel, 20% chromium, 14% cobalt, 4% molybdenum | Rotating and nonrotating turbine engine parts |
| Hastelloy X | About 47% nickel, 22% chromium, 9% molybdenum | Furnace parts, rolls, trays, jet engine tailpipes |
| Monel | Nickel-copper, 65 to 70% nickel | Mostly marine work, for its low corrosion rate in flowing seawater |
The figures are approximate; the mill cert for your heat gives the real ones.
Inconel, Nimonic, Udimet and Monel are trademarks of Special Metals Corporation, and Hastelloy and Waspaloy are registered trademarks of Haynes International, as USGS listed them in 2009. We use the names only to describe alloys and have no tie to those companies.
Sources: USGS Circular 1196-Z: nickel recycling; USGS Circular 1196-A-M: metal recycling flow studies.
Where nickel alloy scrap comes from
USGS says superalloys were first developed after World War II for turbosuperchargers and aircraft turbine engines, and now also go into land-based gas turbines, rocket engines and processing equipment for chemical and petroleum plants.
- Machining. USGS put the average superalloy buy-to-fly ratio at about 7 to 1 in 1998: some 6 kilograms of scrap for each kilogram of engine parts. By volume, turnings are the largest share.
- Foundries. In the same 1998 USGS study, casting corrosion-resistant alloys turned 40 to 60 percent of the melt into new scrap.
- Engine overhaul. Old superalloy scrap includes used turbine blades and other parts taken out of jet engines.
Two of our pickup states do a lot of this work: GO-Biz counts about 110,000 aerospace jobs in California, more than any other state, and Arizona ranks aerospace parts among its three largest manufacturing sectors by 2025 employment.
Sources: USGS Circular 1196-Z: nickel recycling; USGS Circular 1196-A-M: metal recycling flow studies; USGS Circular 1196-R: tungsten recycling; California GO-Biz: aerospace and defense; Arizona Commerce Authority: 2025 annual report.
Keep every nickel alloy separate and labeled
Writing about scrap processing in general, USGS says that "cleanliness of the scrap, that is, whether scrap is properly segregated, remains an important issue".
- One container per grade, marked from the mill cert, print or traveler: Inconel 718, Inconel 625, Hastelloy X, Monel K-500.
- Solids, turnings, blades and rings apart, even inside one grade.
- Turnings drained before bagging; the chips get cleaned of cutting fluid anyway, and a dripping drum is a poor thing to put on a truck.
- Monel and cupronickel apart from the superalloys. USGS treats nickel-copper Monel and copper-nickel cupronickels (10 to 30 percent nickel) as separate groups.
- Cobalt-based alloys such as Stellite in a bin of their own; see cobalt and Stellite.
- Stainless, carbon steel and titanium out of the nickel bins.
Sources: USGS Circular 1196-Z: nickel recycling; USGS Circular 1196-A-M: metal recycling flow studies.
Selling nickel alloy scrap, and how payment works
Pick Exotic metals on the quote form, list each grade with a rough weight, and attach a photo of every bin. To skip the form, send the photos to help@carbidebuyerusa.com, or ring (877) 838-9920 and read us the grades off the tags.
Ship from any state and we pay the shipping (the shipping page covers heavy boxes), or have us pick up anywhere in California, Arizona or Nevada.
We pay cash where state law allows. California names nickel in its definition of scrap metals and alloys, so its record and ID rules apply. Its stricter payment rule (a check mailed to the seller, or cash or check collected on or after the third business day) covers copper, copper alloys, stainless steel and aluminum, and the statute does not say whether a nickel-copper alloy such as Monel counts as a copper alloy. Where a state's rule covers your lot, payment follows that rule.
In Arizona, a scrap metal sale of $300 or more is paid by check or money order mailed to the address on your ID, not on site; industrial accounts that preregister their authorized sellers each year are exempt. In Nevada, scrap metal purchases of $150 or more are paid only by check or electronic transfer. The rules guide covers the ID and record steps.
Sources: California Attorney General: Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; California AB 1508 (Chapter 531, Statutes of 2012); Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647.
We buy carbide too
If your shop machines nickel alloys, send the worn carbide inserts and end mills in the same box, bagged on their own. The carbide inserts page and the carbide scrap price guide explain how we look at it.
Questions sellers ask
What sets the Inconel 718 scrap price?
Its nickel and niobium, the other alloying metals, its form, and how clean and clearly labeled the lot is.
Is the Hastelloy scrap price the same as Inconel?
No single number covers both. The grades carry different mixes of chromium, molybdenum and cobalt, so we quote each one on its own.
How is the Monel scrap price worked out?
Monel carries copper alongside its nickel, so we quote it as its own alloy. Bag it apart from Inconel and from cupronickel.
Do I need to know the grade to sell nickel alloy scrap?
No. Tell us what the parts were or which job they came off, and keep pieces you cannot name in their own bag.
Get a quote for your carbide
Tell us what form it is in, about how much it weighs, and send a few photos. Ship it to us from anywhere in the US and we pay the shipping, or we pick up in California, Arizona and Nevada.