How do you calculate commodity price margin hit rate?

Divide the number of loads that cleared your margin threshold by the total loads priced, then multiply by 100. With 8 loads clearing out of 250 priced, that is 8 / 250 x 100 = 3.2%.

What is a good margin-hit rate for a scrap yard?

Well-run yards target 85-95% of loads clearing the threshold; the 3.2% in this example, against a 95% target, signals a price card badly out of step with spot.

Why is my margin gap so large?

The gap is simply your rate minus target: 3.2% - 95% = a 91.8-point shortfall, meaning almost every load was bought too rich relative to the index that day.

Margin-hit rate vs gross margin dollars - which matters more?

Hit rate flags pricing discipline across loads; gross margin dollars tell you actual profit. Track both, because one rich high-tonnage load can sink dollars even at a high hit rate.

How often should I recheck this metric?

Every time you push a new price card, and intraday on volatile metals like copper, since a stale card drops the hit rate within hours.

Does this account for freight and shrink?

Only if your margin threshold already bakes them in. Set the threshold net of freight, shrink, and processing so a cleared load is genuinely profitable.

Metal Recycling, Scrap Processing & Salvage calculator

Commodity price margin Calculator

In a scrap yard the commodity price margin tracks how often your buying price leaves enough spread against the spot index to clear processing, freight, and shrink. This calculator turns a count of loads that cleared your margin threshold against total priced loads into a hit-rate percentage, then shows the gap to your target. Yard managers and trading desks use it to spot when buyers are overpaying on the scale relative to the LME or AMM published price. When copper or aluminum prices swing intraday, a falling margin-hit rate is the first sign your price card is stale.

What this calculator does

Estimate commodity price margin for metal recycling, scrap processing and salvage using production-ready inputs so teams can track KPI performance and decide whether corrective action is needed.
Use it when commodity price margin in metal recycling, scrap processing and salvage needs a clean rate and gap-to-target you can put on a tier board.
It computes the percentage of priced inbound loads that cleared your margin threshold and the point gap between that rate and your target.

Formula used

Commodity price margin rate = commodity price margin count ÷ total commodity price margin population × 100
Commodity price margin gap to target = commodity price margin rate - target commodity price margin rate

Inputs explained

Loads priced above margin threshold:
Total inbound loads priced:
Target margin-hit rate:

How to use the result

Use it weekly or per price-card update to audit whether buyers on the scale are holding margin against the day's spot index.
It counts loads, not dollars, so a few high-tonnage loads bought thin can pass this hit-rate test while still bleeding gross profit.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
U.S. iron and steel imports ran $2.1B in May 2026 (Census International Trade). The U.S. ran a trade deficit of $0.4B in the category that month. Import volumes are the pressure gauge behind tariff and reshoring decisions.

Common questions

How do you calculate commodity price margin hit rate? Divide the number of loads that cleared your margin threshold by the total loads priced, then multiply by 100. With 8 loads clearing out of 250 priced, that is 8 / 250 x 100 = 3.2%.
What is a good margin-hit rate for a scrap yard? Well-run yards target 85-95% of loads clearing the threshold; the 3.2% in this example, against a 95% target, signals a price card badly out of step with spot.
Why is my margin gap so large? The gap is simply your rate minus target: 3.2% - 95% = a 91.8-point shortfall, meaning almost every load was bought too rich relative to the index that day.
Margin-hit rate vs gross margin dollars - which matters more? Hit rate flags pricing discipline across loads; gross margin dollars tell you actual profit. Track both, because one rich high-tonnage load can sink dollars even at a high hit rate.
How often should I recheck this metric? Every time you push a new price card, and intraday on volatile metals like copper, since a stale card drops the hit rate within hours.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.