How do you calculate slitting yield?

Divide prime mult weight by master coil weight slit and multiply by 100. A 24,500 lb prime output from a 25,000 lb master coil gives 24,500 / 25,000 = 98% yield.

What is a good slitting yield?

For standard steel and aluminum slitting, 96–99% is typical; wide coils with narrow mults and large edge-trim allowances run lower. 98% on a single coil is solid; consistently below 95% points to excess trim or scrap mults.

What causes low slitting yield?

Oversized edge-trim settings, excessive head and tail crop, off-gauge or camber-related scrap mults, threading offal, and rejected coils. Because the formula only sees total weight loss, pair it with a scrap log to isolate the driver.

What does the yield gap to target tell me?

It is your slitting yield minus the target. At 98% against a 98% target the gap is 0 points, meaning you are exactly on plan. A negative gap quantifies lost recovery; positive means you are beating target.

Why use weight instead of footage for slitting yield?

Edge trim removes width, not length, so footage barely changes through a slitter while weight drops with every pound of trim and scrap. Weight is the only measure that captures true metal recovery.

How much is one point of slitting yield worth?

On a 25,000 lb coil, one point is 250 lb of prime metal. Across a shift of ten coils that is 2,500 lb — at typical coil values, a meaningful daily margin swing that justifies tightening trim settings.

Metals, Steel, Aluminum & Coil Processing calculator

Slitting Yield Calculator

Slitting yield is the percentage of an incoming master coil's weight that ships as saleable prime mults after slitting, with the balance lost to edge trim, crop, scrap mults, and threading offal. Coil-line operators, quality engineers, and toll-processing estimators track it because it directly governs metal cost recovery and scrap revenue on every coil run. A 25,000 lb master coil yielding 24,500 lb of prime is running 98% — a single point of yield on a busy slitter is thousands of pounds of metal a week. Watching the gap to target flags when edge-trim settings, recoil tension, or a worn knife are quietly eating margin.

What this calculator does

Calculate slitting yield by comparing the prime weight of the finished mults against the master coil weight you slit, after edge trim and crop loss.
Use it when a slitting line supervisor needs to show prime yield against target after edge trim, scrap, and crop ends.
It computes slitting yield as prime mult weight divided by master coil weight slit, times 100, and reports the point gap between that yield and your target.

Formula used

Slitting yield = prime mult weight ÷ master coil weight slit × 100
Yield gap to target = slitting yield - target slitting yield

Inputs explained

Prime mult weight:
Master coil weight slit:
Target slitting yield:

How to use the result

Use it after each coil or shift to confirm recovery, when validating a new slitting schedule's trim allowance, or when investigating a scrap spike on the line.
It is a weight-in/weight-out ratio and does not distinguish where the loss occurred — edge trim versus crop versus rejected mults all read the same, so use it alongside a scrap breakdown to diagnose root cause.

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.
The producer price index for aluminum mill shapes stands at 404.859 (BLS, May 2026), up 36.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The producer price index for copper and brass mill shapes stands at 559.593 (BLS, May 2026), up 76.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move. Global copper trades at $13,484 per tonne (IMF via FRED, May 2026).

Common questions

How do you calculate slitting yield? Divide prime mult weight by master coil weight slit and multiply by 100. A 24,500 lb prime output from a 25,000 lb master coil gives 24,500 / 25,000 = 98% yield.
What is a good slitting yield? For standard steel and aluminum slitting, 96–99% is typical; wide coils with narrow mults and large edge-trim allowances run lower. 98% on a single coil is solid; consistently below 95% points to excess trim or scrap mults.
What causes low slitting yield? Oversized edge-trim settings, excessive head and tail crop, off-gauge or camber-related scrap mults, threading offal, and rejected coils. Because the formula only sees total weight loss, pair it with a scrap log to isolate the driver.
What does the yield gap to target tell me? It is your slitting yield minus the target. At 98% against a 98% target the gap is 0 points, meaning you are exactly on plan. A negative gap quantifies lost recovery; positive means you are beating target.
Why use weight instead of footage for slitting yield? Edge trim removes width, not length, so footage barely changes through a slitter while weight drops with every pound of trim and scrap. Weight is the only measure that captures true metal recovery.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.