Scrap Automotive Alternators Prices in Ohio
Check current Automotive Alternators prices and find the best-paying scrap yards in Ohio. We track daily market data so you know exactly what your alternators are worth before hitting the scale.
Average Automotive Alternators Price
- Low (up to $0.35): Floor price, typically for small loads.
- Mid ($0.54): A fair deal for standard quantities.
- High ($0.73+): Top-dollar rate. Offered for large commercial loads or by the most competitive buyers.
Pricing verified from 2 live board rates today.
Top Scrap Yards Buying Automotive Alternators Ohio
Before you throw those heavy units in the truck, browse these local yards in Ohio to compare payouts for Automotive Alternators. While our national benchmarks give you the baseline, local yard demand sets the final ticket. Always call ahead to lock in your price.
Columbus Metal Recycling
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🚀 List your scrap yard ⟶Compare Automotive Alternators with Similar Breakage
The #1 rule at scrap yards: if you mix grades, they’ll weigh everything at the lowest rate. See the price gap below — if you have higher-value metal, always sort and weigh each grade separately to avoid leaving money on the table.
Automotive Alternators Price Trends & Market History
This chart shows where the market is headed. If the line is climbing, prices are rising — you might get a better deal in a few days. If it’s dropping, don’t wait: sell today before yards lower their buy prices further.
Automotive Alternators: Scrap Yard Price vs. World Market (COMEX)
Avg scrap yard price
World market price (COMEX)
Automotive Alternators: Spread vs. Exchange — Monthly History
| Period | World price (per lb) | Scrap yard price (per lb) | Spread vs. exchange |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 (current) | $5.764324 | $2.52 | -$3.24 (56.2%) |
| February 2026 | $5.880136 | $2.63 | -$3.25 (55.2%) |
| January 2026 | $5.894887 | $3.54 | -$2.36 (40%) |
| December 2025 | $5.497742 | $3.30 | -$2.20 (40%) |
| November 2025 | $5.064033 | $2.81 | -$2.26 (44.6%) |
| October 2025 | $5.050242 | $2.65 | -$2.40 (47.5%) |
| September 2025 | $4.662367 | $2.80 | -$1.87 (40%) |
| August 2025 | $4.477984 | $2.69 | -$1.79 (40%) |
| July 2025 | $5.482645 | $3.29 | -$2.19 (40%) |
| June 2025 | $4.883233 | $2.93 | -$1.95 (40%) |
| May 2025 | $4.686194 | $2.81 | -$1.87 (40%) |
| April 2025 | $4.654267 | $2.79 | -$1.86 (40%) |
| March 2025 | $4.919484 | $2.95 | -$1.97 (40%) |
| February 2025 | $4.558107 | $2.74 | -$1.82 (40%) |
| January 2025 | $4.269774 | $2.56 | -$1.71 (40%) |
| December 2024 | $4.157855 | $2.50 | -$1.66 (40%) |
| November 2024 | $4.199383 | $2.52 | -$1.68 (40%) |
| October 2024 | $4.431839 | $2.66 | -$1.77 (40%) |
| September 2024 | $4.292683 | $2.58 | -$1.72 (40%) |
| August 2024 | $4.121839 | $2.47 | -$1.65 (40%) |
| July 2024 | $4.375242 | $2.63 | -$1.75 (40%) |
| June 2024 | $4.491083 | $2.70 | -$1.80 (40%) |
| May 2024 | $4.75471 | $2.85 | -$1.90 (40%) |
| April 2024 | $4.363717 | $2.01 | -$2.35 (54%) |
| March 2024 | $3.983645 | $2.39 | -$1.59 (40%) |
| February 2024 | $3.801776 | $2.28 | -$1.52 (40%) |
| January 2024 | $3.811306 | $2.29 | -$1.52 (40%) |
| December 2023 | $3.871226 | $2.32 | -$1.55 (40%) |
| November 2023 | $3.720817 | $2.23 | -$1.49 (40%) |
| October 2023 | $3.609306 | $2.17 | -$1.44 (40%) |
| September 2023 | $3.759833 | $2.26 | -$1.50 (40%) |
| August 2023 | $3.776097 | $2.27 | -$1.51 (40%) |
| July 2023 | $3.8455 | $2.31 | -$1.54 (40%) |
| June 2023 | $3.804983 | $2.28 | -$1.52 (40%) |
| May 2023 | $3.751484 | $2.25 | -$1.50 (40%) |
| April 2023 | $4.007367 | $2.40 | -$1.60 (40%) |
| March 2023 | $4.02821 | $2.42 | -$1.61 (40%) |
| February 2023 | $4.06475 | $2.44 | -$1.63 (40%) |
| January 2023 | $4.115113 | $2.47 | -$1.65 (40%) |
| December 2022 | $3.820726 | $2.29 | -$1.53 (40%) |
| November 2022 | $3.674017 | $2.20 | -$1.47 (40%) |
| October 2022 | $3.430419 | $2.06 | -$1.37 (40%) |
| September 2022 | $3.455283 | $2.07 | -$1.38 (40%) |
| August 2022 | $3.616468 | $2.17 | -$1.45 (40%) |
| July 2022 | $3.4195 | $2.05 | -$1.37 (40%) |
| June 2022 | $4.118667 | $2.47 | -$1.65 (40%) |
| May 2022 | $4.257274 | $2.55 | -$1.70 (40%) |
| April 2022 | $4.649533 | $2.79 | -$1.86 (40%) |
| March 2022 | $4.707694 | $2.83 | -$1.88 (40%) |
| February 2022 | $4.502304 | $2.70 | -$1.80 (40%) |
| January 2022 | $4.4345 | $2.66 | -$1.77 (40%) |
| December 2021 | $4.332226 | $2.60 | -$1.73 (40%) |
| November 2021 | $4.367567 | $2.62 | -$1.75 (40%) |
| October 2021 | $4.432371 | $2.66 | -$1.77 (40%) |
| September 2021 | $4.2864 | $2.57 | -$1.71 (40%) |
| August 2021 | $4.302984 | $2.58 | -$1.72 (40%) |
| July 2021 | $4.347452 | $2.61 | -$1.74 (40%) |
| June 2021 | $4.388783 | $2.63 | -$1.76 (40%) |
| May 2021 | $4.618871 | $2.77 | -$1.85 (40%) |
| April 2021 | $4.192633 | $2.51 | -$1.68 (40%) |
| March 2021 | $4.084726 | $2.45 | -$1.63 (40%) |
| February 2021 | $3.861 | $2.32 | -$1.54 (40%) |
| January 2021 | $3.607435 | $2.16 | -$1.44 (40%) |
| December 2020 | $3.546903 | $2.13 | -$1.42 (40%) |
| November 2020 | $3.21755 | $1.93 | -$1.29 (40%) |
| October 2020 | $3.060177 | $1.84 | -$1.22 (40%) |
| September 2020 | $3.0352 | $1.82 | -$1.21 (40%) |
| August 2020 | $2.909726 | $1.75 | -$1.16 (40%) |
| July 2020 | $2.899188 | $1.54 | -$1.36 (46.9%) |
Automotive Alternators Scrap Price History — Daily Data
A day-by-day market snapshot in exact numbers. Every day we aggregate buy prices from local scrap yards, recording the average, low, and high. Use this table to track real price movement over recent days.
| Date | Avg price (per lb) | Change | Range (Low/High) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/17/2026 | $0.35 / lb | -$0.38 | $0.35 - $0.35 |
| 11/3/2025 | $0.73 / lb | +$0.43 | $0.73 - $0.73 |
| 4/18/2024 | $0.30 / lb | +$0.17 | $0.30 - $0.30 |
Cashing In On Automotive Alternators
If you're pulling parts or running a shop in Ohio, Automotive Alternators are a high-value staple in the scrap game. These units are dense, packing a solid copper winding inside a cast aluminum housing. Because of this rich copper-to-aluminum ratio, yards buy them as a specific, premium breakage grade. Based on current market tracking, national buyers are paying anywhere from $0.35 to $0.60 per pound for clean, whole units, with the average landing right around $0.46.
Keep Your Auto Cast Sorted
Walking into the yard with a mixed bin of breakage is a rookie move that will cost you heavily. If you toss your premium Automotive Alternators into a gaylord box full of Aluminum & Steel Transformers, the scale master is going to downgrade the entire load to the cheaper metal. That simple mistake can cost you about $0.34 per pound right off the top. Keep your alternators strictly segregated to guarantee top dollar.
- Aluminum & Dirty Motors: Keep these in a separate bin; they usually trade between $0.09 to $0.22/lb.
- Aluminum & Steel Transformers: A lower grade fetching around $0.10 to $0.15/lb.
- Automotive AC Compressors: These have a different recovery profile and run about $0.25 to $0.30/lb.
Prepping the Core for the Scale
A common question among scrappers is whether they should break the alternators open to extract the bare copper inside. Unless you have an industrial hydraulic cracker or a massive amount of free time, it is rarely worth the labor. The heavy steel stator and thick aluminum shell will chew up your tools and your time. Sell them as intact units. However, you do want to do a little bit of field prep to ensure you get the clean alternator rate.
Yard Pro Tip: Always unbolt and remove any oversized steel mounting brackets or cast iron tensioner pulleys before tossing an alternator in your bin. While the internal steel stator is expected, leaving massive external steel brackets attached severely throws off the copper/aluminum recovery weight, prompting yards to bump it down to a standard 'dirty motor' grade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do yards pay a premium for alternators over regular dirty motors?
It all comes down to the recovery percentage. Alternators contain tightly wound copper wire (the stator and rotor) inside a clean cast aluminum shell, yielding a much higher percentage of non-ferrous metal than standard electric motors, which are often housed in heavy steel. This efficiency is why the national average sits solidly around $0.46 per pound.
How do copper markets impact alternator pricing?
Since the primary value of an alternator lies in its internal copper and aluminum housing, the payout tracks closely with major commodity exchanges like the COMEX. Because buyers still have to shred and separate the metals, the yard price typically runs about 89.8% below the spot price to account for their processing overhead.
Does it matter if the alternators are rusted or burnt out?
As long as the unit is whole and still contains the internal copper windings, rust or mechanical failure won't affect the scrap value. A blown diode or burnt-out bearing makes it useless for a car, but it holds the exact same base metal weight for the scrap shredder.
Automotive Alternators scrap prices in Ohio on the map
The map shows cities in Ohio with Automotive Alternators scrap prices. Click a marker or pick a city in the list below to see Automotive Alternators prices in that location.