Free resource · updated weekly

UK Material Price Tracker

What round bar actually costs to buy in the UK: the same Ø25 mm bar, per metre, ex VAT, read from 4 UK online stockists every week, with history back to Mar 2021 from archived copies of the same pages. Every number links to the page it came from.

15grades tracked
steels, stainless, aluminium, copper, plastics
127prices on record
since Mar 2021
1.9×widest spread this week: 316 / 316L
£37.24 to £72.00 for the same bar
+169%biggest recorded rise: EN36B (655M13)
£24.20 (Sep 2021) to £65.00 (Feb 2024)

Last read 26 Sep 2026: 20 of 21 stockist prices read (1 couldn't be read with certainty and are left out). Next reading due 28 Sep 2026. Follow price changes (Atom feed)

Each line is one grade at the stockist with the longest record for it. Indexed trend sets every grade to 100 at the start of the range you pick, so you can compare how fast they moved; £ per metre compares what they cost. Hover for values; click to pin and open sources.

By family

Each family on its own scale, so the lines stay readable. These follow the range and the view (indexed or £ per metre) picked above.

What moved

This week's prices

Highest £/mHistory
Aluminium
6082-T6 £13.91
same since Jun 2026
£10.46 1 stockist −3%
since Aug 2022
11
Stainless steel
303 £36.96 £9.53 £55.10 +67%
since Oct 2021
21
304 £36.96 £9.49 £50.20 +52%
since Oct 2021
14
316 / 316L £37.24 £9.49 £72.00 +20%
since Mar 2021
24
Carbon & alloy steel
EN1A (230M07) £19.20
same since May 2024
— 1 stockist +57%
since Sep 2021
4
Bright mild steel (080A15) £16.10
same since Apr 2024
— 1 stockist −10%
since Oct 2021
5
EN8 (080M40) £23.40
same since Jun 2024
£6.07 1 stockist +40%
since Oct 2021
5
EN16T (605M36T) £29.45
same since Dec 2023
— 1 stockist +40%
since Oct 2021
6
EN24T (817M40T) £55.00
same since Jun 2024
£14.27 1 stockist +69%
since Oct 2021
5
EN36B (655M13) £65.00
same since Feb 2024
— 1 stockist +169%
since Sep 2021
7
EN40B (722M24T) £34.50
same since May 2024
— 1 stockist +27%
since Sep 2021
4
Copper
Copper C101 £172.73
same since Sep 2026
£39.27 1 stockist +61%
since Dec 2023
7
Plastics
Nylon 6 (natural) £15.40
same since May 2024
£27.52 1 stockist +37%
since Oct 2021
4
Nylon 66 (natural) £21.10
same since Apr 2024
— 1 stockist −17%
since May 2022
5
Acetal (white) £18.90
same since Dec 2023
— 1 stockist −16%
since Aug 2022
5

"Change" and the history line follow the stockist with the longest record for that grade, first reading to latest. £/kg uses the densities published on our material pages and is left blank where we don't publish one. Open a grade for every stockist's history and the source of each figure.

Cost by weight, this week

Lowest price per metre ÷ the weight of 1 m of Ø25 mm bar, using the densities published on our material pages. Grades we don't publish a density for aren't shown. Small-diameter retail bar costs far more per kg than mill prices.

How the stockists compare, this week

StockistShared gradesCheapest onAverage above cheapestMost above
Aluminium Warehouse21 of 2+2%+5%
AMB Steels (Sheffield)32 of 3+8%+24%
Rapid Metals30 of 3+59%+93%

Only grades read at two or more stockists this week are compared, and only like with like (the same Ø25 mm grade). A stockist can be dearer on list price and still cheaper delivered, so check delivery for your order.

What these numbers are. Retail list prices for Ø25 mm round bar, per metre, ex VAT and excluding delivery, as shown on each stockist's own website on the date given. We read them automatically each week. Older figures come from dated Internet Archive snapshots of the same product pages, and an archived price is used only if that page also shows it is ex VAT. They are not quotations, and an account or trade price will usually be lower. Each figure links to the page it was read from. A reading we couldn't take with certainty is left out, never estimated.

Where the prices come from

Aluminium Warehouse, AMB Steels (Sheffield), Rapid Metals, 1st Choice Metals. We only read from stockists whose website publishes prices in a form that can be read exactly and whose robots.txt allows it. Stockists that ask automated readers not to visit aren't included. Know a UK stockist that should be here? Tell us.

Use the data

Free to reuse with credit to Dalloway Precision Engineering (CC BY 4.0): CSV · JSON. Each grade page also has a live price card you can embed. To cite: "UK Material Price Tracker, Dalloway Precision Engineering, dalloways.com/material-prices, read 26 Sep 2026."

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