North American precious metal scrap prices moved substantially lower during the week ending October 1, 2026, with silver recording the most pronounced weakness among the three major precious metals tracked by ScrapMonster. Silver scrap benchmarks posted the sharpest losses during the September 25–October 1 reporting period. Hallmarked silver declined $3.36 per ounce, equivalent to a 6.84% weekly drop, while non-hallmarked silver fell $3.23 per ounce, or 6.85%.
These declines significantly exceeded the losses recorded in gold and platinum scrap markets. Gold scrap weakened across all major purity grades during the reporting week. Hallmarked gold recorded the following declines: 9-carat gold fell $39.14 per ounce, 14-carat gold declined $61.05 per ounce, 18-carat gold dropped $78.28 per ounce, and 22-carat gold decreased $95.60 per ounce.
Non-hallmarked gold followed a similar pattern, with 9-carat gold falling $37.01 per ounce, 14-carat gold declining $57.53 per ounce, 18-carat gold dropping $74.02 per ounce, and 22-carat gold decreasing $90.39 per ounce. The larger dollar declines in higher-purity grades reflect the greater amount of contained gold per ounce of scrap material. Platinum scrap also moved lower, falling $39.37 per ounce, or 3.05%, in both hallmarked and non-hallmarked categories.
This decline closely tracked international platinum benchmarks, which lost roughly 3.2% between September 25 and October 1. According to the World Platinum Investment Council, the latest outlook forecasts a 265,000-ounce market surplus for 2026, a reversal from earlier deficit forecasts. The shift largely reflects investment outflows, while above-ground inventories remain constrained after three consecutive years of substantial deficits.
International bullion markets also recorded weakness during the same period. Gold spot prices fell from $4,284.97 per ounce on September 25 to $4,177.39 per ounce on October 1, representing a 2.51% decline. Silver spot prices dropped from $64.31 per ounce to $60.99 per ounce, a 5.16% decline.
Platinum spot prices fell from $1,777.80 per ounce to $1,721.41 per ounce, a 3.17% decline. COMEX gold futures closed at $4,202.30 per ounce on October 1. According to ScrapMonster's analysis, the week's precious metal weakness broadly reflected international market conditions rather than isolated local secondary-material pressures.
Higher U.S. Treasury yields, a firmer dollar and changing expectations for Federal Reserve policy pressured non-yielding precious metals during the reporting week. For silver specifically, the 6.8% decline in North American scrap benchmarks exceeded the losses in gold and platinum and was directionally consistent with a more than 5% decline in the international silver market over the same period.
The scrap-market pattern suggests that while local factors such as scrap inflows, local buying conditions and refinery spreads can affect the magnitude of individual benchmark moves, the overall direction remained consistent with international precious metal benchmarks. Looking forward, Treasury yields, the U.S. dollar and Federal Reserve expectations remain the immediate macro indicators to watch, according to ScrapMonster. For silver, industrial demand expectations add another layer of volatility, while for platinum, the market continues to balance a newly forecast 2026 surplus against still-low above-ground inventories and improving industrial demand.
Source: ScrapMonster weekly metal price report, published October 2, 2026
Source: scrapmonster.com