Foundry & Forging calculator

Melt Loss Cost Calculator

Cost a measured metal loss after accounting for unrecoverable material, handling charges and your heat budget.

What this calculator does

  • Cost a measured metal loss after accounting for unrecoverable material, handling charges and your heat budget.

Formula used

  • Unrecoverable metal = loss-stream metal × unrecoverable share ÷ 100
  • Metal loss value = unrecoverable metal × charge metal price
  • Total loss cost = metal loss value + additional handling cost
  • Cost per loss-stream pound = total loss cost ÷ loss-stream metal
  • Budget remaining = loss cost budget − total loss cost

Inputs explained

  • Metal in the Loss Stream: Metallic mass from the reconciled heat balance, excluding oxides.
  • Charge Metal Price: Blended charge value from the material cost ledger.
  • Unrecoverable Metal Share: Share remaining lost after documented metallic recovery.
  • Additional Loss Handling Cost: Incremental flux and handling charges for this heat.
  • Loss Cost Budget: Allowed loss-related cost for the same heat.

How to use the result

  • Best suited to lower unrecoverable share reduces loss Cost, fully unrecoverable metal exceeds the budget.
  • Different scrap sale values require a separate credit calculation. Dross weight includes oxides and must not substitute for metallic loss.

Current U.S. benchmarks

  • The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 381.162 (BLS, Aug 2026), up 23.4% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
  • The U.S. has 3,569 primary metal manufacturing establishments employing about 354,911 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

  • Can I use the weighed dross mass? No. Dross contains oxide and trapped metal; enter its metallic content from the reconciled heat balance.
  • Why does recovered metal reduce cost? This model values recovered metal at the entered charge replacement price. Use a separate credit calculation when its realized value differs.
  • Why is cost per pound blank at zero loss? There is no loss-stream mass to divide by. Any entered handling cost remains in the total.
  • Is the budget an industry benchmark? No. It is your allowed loss-related cost for this heat.

Last reviewed 2026-10-06.