Titanium scrap is worth $0.35 to $3.00+ per pound depending on grade and form. Clean 6Al-4V solids (the aerospace alloy) bring $1.50-$3.00 per pound at specialty buyers, commercially pure titanium $1.00-$2.00, while turnings and chips drop to $0.35-$0.90. Most general scrapyards pay poorly for titanium or refuse it entirely, so finding a specialty buyer is the difference between real money and steel-level rates.
| Grade / Item | Low | High | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6Al-4V clean solids | $1.50 | $3.00 | USD/lb |
| Commercially pure (CP) | $1.00 | $2.00 | USD/lb |
| Turnings / chips | $0.35 | $0.90 | USD/lb |
| Mixed / unidentified | $0.35 | $0.75 | USD/lb |
| Country | Typical Range | Per Tonne | Cur. |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $0.35 – $3.00 /lb | $770 – $6,600 | USD |
| United Kingdom | £0.60 – £5.00 /kg | £600 – £5,000 | GBP |
| Germany / EU | €0.70 – €6.00 /kg | €700 – €6,000 | EUR |
| India | ₹70 – ₹580 /kg | ₹70,000 – ₹580,000 | INR |
Rates for every other metal grade are collected in the complete scrap metal price index.
Why Titanium Is the Trickiest Scrap to Sell Well
Titanium sits in an odd spot in the scrap world. It’s a genuinely valuable metal, prized by aerospace, medical, and defense industries for its strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance. But unlike copper or aluminum, most neighborhood scrapyards have no melt outlet for it.
The result is a two-tier market. General yards that accept titanium often pay $0.30-$0.60 per pound regardless of grade, treating it as an exotic nuisance. Specialty titanium buyers and aerospace recyclers pay 3-6x more because they sell directly into the remelt supply chain.
Knowing your grade and finding the right buyer matters more with titanium than with any common scrap metal.
Titanium Grades and What They Pay
6Al-4V (Grade 5) is the aerospace workhorse, containing 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium. Aircraft parts, high-end bike frames, racing components, and medical implants use it. Clean, sorted 6Al-4V solids top the scrap price chart at $1.50-$3.00/lb.
Commercially pure (CP) titanium in Grades 1-4 shows up in chemical processing equipment, heat exchangers, and marine hardware. It pays $1.00-$2.00/lb sorted.
Turnings and chips from machining operations are the volume category. Their value drops to $0.35-$0.90/lb because they oxidize, absorb cutting fluids, and require expensive processing before remelt. Dry, uncontaminated turnings earn the top of that range.
How to Identify Titanium
- Magnet test: Titanium is non-magnetic. That rules out steel instantly.
- Weight test: Titanium is noticeably lighter than steel (about 56% of steel’s density) but heavier than aluminum.
- Spark test: Grinding titanium throws brilliant, blinding white sparks with distinctive branching bursts. Steel sparks are yellow-orange; aluminum doesn’t spark at all.
- Certification marks: Aerospace drops often carry stamped heat numbers and grade markings. Those marks add real value, so never grind them off.
Where Titanium Scrap Comes From
Machine shops with aerospace or medical contracts generate the steady streams: solids, plate drops, and turnings. Beyond industry, titanium hides in exhaust systems from performance motorcycles and sports cars, golf club heads, high-end bike frames, artificial hip and knee implants (crematoriums and medical recyclers handle these), aircraft salvage, and dive knives.
Performance exhausts deserve a special mention: a full titanium motorcycle exhaust system weighs 5-15 lbs and sells at solids pricing, making it worth far more than its size suggests.
Common Mistakes That Kill Titanium Payouts
- Selling at a general yard: The 3-6x price gap between general and specialty buyers is the whole game. Ship to a titanium recycler if none is local.
- Mixing grades: 6Al-4V mixed with CP prices at the lower grade. Sort by markings.
- Wet or oily turnings: Contaminated chips get docked heavily. Drain and dry them.
- Grinding off heat numbers: Certified material with traceable markings earns premiums from aerospace remelt buyers.
- Confusing titanium with stainless: Both are non-magnetic-ish and silvery. Run the spark test; the difference is hundreds of dollars per load. Our stainless steel scrap guide covers that side of the confusion.
Getting the Best Price
Sort by grade, keep certifications visible, dry your turnings, and quote 2-3 specialty buyers with photos and weights before considering any local yard. For loads over 100 lbs, freight to a titanium recycler almost always nets more than a local sale.
Titanium rewards knowledge more than any common metal. The scrapper who can spark-test and read a heat number gets paid triple what the guess-and-dump seller takes home, the same way a serial number transforms a torpedo converter quote.