Rebar Price per Ton: What Drives Steel Cost

Ask ten suppliers for a rebar price per ton and you will get ten different numbers. That is not because anyone is trying to confuse you — it is because "a ton of rebar" is not a single product. Grade, bar size, order quantity, fabrication, coating and delivery all move the price, and the steel market itself shifts week to week. If you price rebar like a fixed commodity, your estimate will be wrong. Here is how the price is actually built up, and how to work it out for your own job.

First, which ton are we talking about?

In the United States, rebar is sold by the short ton — 2,000 lb. If you are used to metric work, do not confuse this with a tonne (2,204.6 lb). A quote of $1,000 per short ton equals about $1,102 per metric tonne, so mixing the two up understates your cost by roughly 10%. Always confirm the unit in writing before you compare quotes. The same goes for the price basis: is the quote for plain mill-length bars, or does it include cutting, bending and delivery? Most low quotes are for plain stock lengths only.

What rebar typically costs per ton

As a ballpark, plain Grade 60 black rebar in stock lengths in the US generally runs $700 to $1,100 per short ton for ordinary orders, with small orders and remote sites at the top of that range and full truckloads at the bottom. Fabricated rebar — cut and bent to your bending schedule — usually adds $80 to $150 per ton. Epoxy-coated bars add another $150 to $250 per ton, and stainless or galvanized bars cost several times the price of black bar. These are typical 2026 ranges, not a quote: scrap prices move monthly, and your local price depends on how far you are from a mill or a service centre.

For a quick sense of what that means per foot of bar, divide by 2,000 lb. At $1,000 per ton, steel costs $0.50 per pound. A #5 bar weighs 1.043 lb/ft, so it costs about $0.52 per foot. A #8 bar at 2.670 lb/ft costs about $1.34 per foot. The per-ton price is the same either way — the per-foot price just follows the weight.

The six things that drive the price

1. The scrap and mill market

Rebar is made mostly from recycled scrap steel, so its price tracks the scrap market and mill production costs closely. When scrap is expensive or mills are running at full capacity, the base price rises for everyone. This is the one factor you cannot negotiate — it is set by the market, not your supplier. What you can do is get quotes close to your order date rather than relying on a price from three months ago, and build a small allowance into your estimate if the job is months away.

2. Grade: Grade 40, 60 or 80

Most US work uses Grade 60 bar to ASTM A615, with a minimum yield strength of 60,000 psi. Grade 40 is cheaper per ton but weaker, so you need more steel for the same strength — it rarely saves money on a designed structure. Grade 80 costs more per ton but lets the engineer use less steel, which can pay off on large columns and beams. ACI 318 permits Grade 80 for many applications, but the design has to be done for it; you cannot just swap grades on site. If your drawings say Grade 60, price Grade 60.

3. Bar size: small bars cost more per ton

This catches people out. A ton of #3 bars costs more than a ton of #11 bars. Small bars take more mill passes and more handling per ton, and the rolling cost is spread over less steel. If your job is mostly #4 and #5 bars — typical for residential footings and slabs — expect a per-ton price toward the top of the range. Heavy civil work in #9 and #11 bars gets the better per-ton rate. The table below gives the standard ASTM weights you need for any quantity takeoff.

4. Order quantity

Steel is a volume business. A full truckload — roughly 20 to 24 tons — gets the best price. A half-ton pickup order from a local yard pays a premium, sometimes 20–30% more per ton, because the yard has already cut, stored and handled it. If you can combine orders across jobs or order the full requirement in one go, the saving is real. On the other hand, ordering a whole truckload for a small job ties up cash and leaves steel rusting on site, so weigh the saving against waste and storage.

5. Fabrication: cutting and bending

Mill-length bars come in 20 ft, 40 ft or 60 ft lengths. If your bending schedule needs stirrups, hooks and bent bars, the supplier's shop cuts and bends them — and charges for it. Fabrication typically adds $80 to $150 per ton, and complex shapes with many bends cost more than straight bars. One practical tip: keep your bar marks simple. A schedule with twenty different bend shapes costs more to fabricate than one with five, even for the same tonnage.

6. Delivery, location and coating

Delivery is usually a flat charge per load, so it bites hardest on small orders. A $175 delivery on a 1-ton order adds $175 per ton; on a 20-ton load it adds under $9 per ton. Remote sites pay more, and sites needing a crane offload pay more still. Epoxy coating — required where ACI 318 or the drawings call for corrosion protection — adds $150 to $250 per ton, plus extra care in handling so the coating is not damaged. Galvanized and stainless bars are specialist items priced individually.

Standard bar weights you need for estimating

To turn a bending schedule into tonnage, you need the weight per foot of each bar size. These are the standard ASTM A615 values:

• #3 (3/8 in.): 0.376 lb/ft
• #4 (1/2 in.): 0.668 lb/ft
• #5 (5/8 in.): 1.043 lb/ft
• #6 (3/4 in.): 1.502 lb/ft
• #7 (7/8 in.): 2.044 lb/ft
• #8 (1 in.): 2.670 lb/ft
• #9 (1-1/8 in.): 3.400 lb/ft
• #10 (1-1/4 in.): 4.303 lb/ft
• #11 (1-3/8 in.): 5.313 lb/ft

Multiply the total length of each size by its weight per foot, add them up, and divide by 2,000 to get short tons. Add 3–5% for laps and cutting waste — the same kind of allowance you would carry for concrete.

Worked example: pricing 1.2 tons for a house foundation

Say a contractor needs rebar for a single-storey house foundation and ground slab. The bar bending schedule totals 2,400 lb of Grade 60 bar, mostly #5 with some #4 stirrups. That is 2,400 ÷ 2,000 = 1.2 short tons. Three quotes come in, and the chosen supplier charges:

• Material, plain Grade 60 stock: $0.52 per lb — 2,400 × $0.52 = $1,248
• Cutting and bending to the schedule: $90 per ton — 1.2 × $90 = $108
• Delivery, one flatbed load: $175

Total delivered and fabricated: $1,248 + $108 + $175 = $1,531. Divide by the tonnage and the all-in price is $1,531 ÷ 1.2 = $1,276 per ton. Notice how different that is from the headline material price of $0.52 × 2,000 = $1,040 per ton. The fabrication and delivery add $236 per ton on a small order like this — nearly a quarter of the cost. On a 20-ton order the same delivery charge would add less than $9 per ton, which is exactly why small jobs pay more per ton.

Now scale it up. If the same house needed 5 tons instead of 1.2, the material would be 10,000 lb × $0.52 = $5,200, fabrication 5 × $90 = $450, delivery still $175, for a total of $5,825 — or $1,165 per ton. Same steel, same supplier, $111 per ton cheaper, purely because the fixed delivery cost is spread over more steel.

How to get a price you can actually use

• Send the bending schedule, not a tonnage. A supplier quoting from your BBS prices the real bars, including the small sizes that cost more per ton. A bare "2 tons of rebar" quote hides all of that.
• Ask what is included. Material only? Cut and bent? Delivered? Tax? Get each element on its own line so you can compare quotes fairly.
• Get three quotes, on the same basis. Compare the all-in per-ton figure, not the headline material price.
• Confirm the grade and specification. The quote should state ASTM A615 Grade 60 (or whatever your drawings require). A cheaper quote for the wrong grade is not a saving.
• Check the mill certificates. For structural work, ask for the mill test certificate with the delivery. It confirms the grade and the heat number, and it is cheap insurance if anything is ever questioned.
• Lock the price when you order. Steel prices move. A quote is usually firm for 7–30 days; if your pour is later, ask the supplier how long the price holds and carry an allowance for the gap.

Common estimating mistakes

The most common error is pricing the tonnage and forgetting the rest — no allowance for laps, cutting waste, fabrication or delivery. The second is using a per-ton price from a different region or a different year; steel is a local, fast-moving market. The third is confusing short tons and metric tonnes, which quietly moves the answer by 10%. And the fourth is specifying a cheaper grade to save money: if the design is based on Grade 60, buying Grade 40 means more steel, more congestion in the formwork, and a structure that does not match the drawings.

One more site reality: store bars on timber bearers off the ground and keep sizes in separate bundles. Light surface rust is normal — ACI 318 accepts tightly adhering rust — but heavily scaled, flaking bars should be cleaned or rejected.

Frequently asked questions

How much does rebar cost per ton in 2026?

Plain Grade 60 black rebar in stock lengths typically runs $700 to $1,100 per short ton (2,000 lb) in the US. Cut-and-bent fabricated rebar adds $80 to $150 per ton, and delivery adds a flat charge that matters most on small orders. Always get a current local quote — scrap prices move monthly.

How many feet of #5 rebar are in a ton?

A #5 bar weighs 1.043 lb/ft, so one short ton (2,000 lb) contains 2,000 ÷ 1.043 = 1,917 ft of #5 bar. For #4 bar at 0.668 lb/ft, a ton is 2,994 ft; for #8 at 2.670 lb/ft, a ton is 749 ft.

Why is rebar sold by weight instead of by length?

Because bars of different diameters have very different weights per foot, weight is the only fair common basis. Mills produce steel by the ton, and structural design is driven by steel area — which is directly tied to weight. Pricing by the ton keeps the material, the design and the invoice on the same basis.

Is epoxy-coated rebar worth the extra cost?

Where the drawings or ACI 318 call for it — marine exposure, de-icing salts, or aggressive soils — yes; it is a durability requirement, not an option. It adds roughly $150 to $250 per ton. Where corrosion exposure is normal, black bar with the specified concrete cover is the right choice, and the extra money is better spent elsewhere.

How much extra rebar should I order?

Allow 3–5% over the bending schedule quantity for laps, cutting waste and the odd bar that gets damaged on site. Order the full requirement in one delivery where possible — splitting a small order across two deliveries can cost more in extra delivery charges than the waste allowance you were trying to avoid.