Scrap metal prices per kg in Philippines
| Scrap type | Price (PHP) | Change | Global reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-ferrous (per kg) | |||
| Copper Scrap | ₱686 / kg | ▲ +2.30% | $5.78 / lb |
| Aluminum Scrap | ₱96 / kg | ▲ +1.25% | $0.81 / lb |
| Brass Scrap | ₱416 / kg | ▲ +1.45% | $3.50 / lb |
| Stainless Steel Scrap | ₱68 / kg | ▲ +0.00% | $0.57 / lb |
| Lead Scrap | ₱70 / kg | ▲ +0.00% | $0.59 / lb |
| Zinc Scrap | ₱107 / kg | ▲ +0.00% | $0.90 / lb |
| Battery Scrap | ₱27 / kg | ▲ +0.00% | $0.23 / lb |
| Radiator Scrap | ₱394 / kg | ▲ +2.15% | $3.32 / lb |
| Wire Scrap | ₱331 / kg | ▲ +2.20% | $2.79 / lb |
| Cable Scrap | ₱221 / kg | ▲ +2.20% | $1.86 / lb |
| Electronic Scrap | ₱95 / kg | ▲ +2.56% | $0.80 / lb |
| Ferrous and bulk (per tonne) | |||
| Steel Scrap | ₱17,812 / tonne | ▲ +0.00% | $300 / ton |
| Iron Scrap | ₱15,675 / tonne | ▲ +0.00% | $264 / ton |
| Car Scrap | ₱21,375 / tonne | ▲ +0.00% | $360 / ton |
| Cast Iron | ₱17,100 / tonne | ▲ +0.00% | $288 / ton |
Indicative dealer prices for clean, sorted scrap. Global reference is the US board in US dollars; the Philippines figure applies the exchange rate (1 USD = 62.63 PHP) and a local market factor of 0.86.
Junk shops quote in pesos per kilogram for everything, ferrous included. Prices here are derived from the exchange settlement, converted to pesos, and adjusted by a market factor of 0.86, our assessment of a market with several handling layers between a household seller and a processing plant, each taking a margin. That factor is published on the editorial policy page and is open to challenge. Expect a real junk shop price to sit below the figure on this board, because that board is a reference for the metal rather than a quote from a shop that has to pay for premises, a scale, staff and its own margin.
Philippines scrap price chart (PHP)
Daily open, high, low and close for the most traded scrap metals in PHP per kg or per tonne. Scroll to zoom and drag to move along the timeline.
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Copper scrap prices by grade in Philippines
Copper is not one price. Yards grade it by cleanliness, coating and gauge, and the spread from the top grade to the bottom runs 25 to 35 percent. These are the same grades used on export contracts, converted to PHP.
The scrap market in Philippines
The Philippines has no scrap metal dealer licence. That single absence shapes everything else on this page. A junk shop is registered the way any small business is registered: a business name with the Department of Trade and Industry for a sole proprietorship or the Securities and Exchange Commission for a partnership or corporation, a Tax Identification Number with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, a barangay clearance, a mayor's or business permit from the city or municipal government, a sanitary permit, and environmental clearance from the DENR or the local environment office. Nothing in that list is specific to metal. There is no council to check a dealer against and no register to look up, which is the opposite of the situation in the United Kingdom or Kenya.
What fills the gap is the barangay. It is the smallest unit of local government in the Philippines and it is the first layer a junk shop deals with, through the barangay clearance and often through a materials recovery facility that takes recyclables directly from residents. In Quezon City, for example, residents bring kalakal to a barangay facility and receive stamps redeemable for household goods. That is a genuinely different route from selling to a shop, and it exists alongside the junk shop network rather than replacing it. Below the junk shops sits the collector layer, and above them sit the consolidators and processing plants that buy shop output by the tonne.
- Currency
- Philippine peso (PHP)
- Units
- Kilogram, for ferrous as well as non-ferrous
- Market factor
- 0.86 (our assessment, published on the editorial policy page)
- Registration
- DTI or SEC, BIR, barangay clearance, mayor's permit, sanitary permit, DENR or local environment clearance
- Local terms
- Junk shop for the buyer, kalakal for the recyclable material
The most valuable scrap by weight in Philippines today: Copper at ₱686 per kg, Brass at ₱416 per kg, Radiator at ₱394 per kg, Wire at ₱331 per kg, Cable at ₱221 per kg.
What scrap metal pays per kg in Philippines
Buyers in Philippines work in PHP and price by the kilogram. Typical ranges are Copper: ₱ 605 to ₱ 770 per kg; Brass: ₱ 365 to ₱ 465 per kg; Aluminium: ₱ 84 to ₱ 108 per kg; Zinc: ₱ 95 to ₱ 120 per kg; Lead: ₱ 62 to ₱ 78 per kg; Stainless steel: ₱ 60 to ₱ 76 per kg. Across common non-ferrous grades that puts most material between ₱ 60 and ₱ 770 per kg, with copper at the top of the range and stainless steel near the bottom.
These are ranges rather than quotes. The band reflects day-to-day movement in the metal market and the spread between one yard and another, which our own research has found can reach 40 percent or more for the same metal in the same city. The midpoint is derived from the international exchange settlement converted to PHP and adjusted by our published market factor of 0.86. Expect a local buyer to sit toward the lower end, because they carry collection, sorting, processing and their own margin. Always confirm the rate per kilo for your specific grade before anything is weighed.
- Copper: ₱ 605 to ₱ 770 per kg
- Brass: ₱ 365 to ₱ 465 per kg
- Aluminium: ₱ 84 to ₱ 108 per kg
- Zinc: ₱ 95 to ₱ 120 per kg
- Lead: ₱ 62 to ₱ 78 per kg
- Stainless steel: ₱ 60 to ₱ 76 per kg
Copper wire is covered by its own law here
Scrap copper that came off a power line is not treated as ordinary scrap in the Philippines. It falls under Republic Act No. 7832, the law on pilferage of electricity and of electric power transmission lines and materials, and Section 3 of that Act creates the specific offence.
That distinction matters more than it sounds, because it changes what a load is legally. Ordinary theft and theft of transmission materials are different charges, and the second carries its own framework.
The case that should concern a yard
On 10 August 2010, two men were driving a trailer truck with a container van toward the Manila International Container Port when officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group flagged them down, on suspicion that they were illegally transporting scrap copper wire from electric power transmission lines owned by Manila Electric Company. The truck and its contents were seized and the two were detained, then charged before the Regional Trial Court of Malabon under Section 3 of RA 7832.
The detail worth noting is who ended up litigating it. The matter reached the Supreme Court as Neptune Metal Scrap Recycling, Inc. against Manila Electric Company and the People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 204222. A scrap recycling company became the petitioner in a criminal matter arising from copper in transit.
You do not need to know the outcome to take the lesson. If transmission-type copper passes through your hands, your business can be pulled into the proceedings, and the cargo can be held while that happens.
What to do about it
Ask where transmission or distribution cable came from, and record the answer. A junk shop or yard that keeps no record of provenance on copper wire is the easiest party in the chain to pursue.
Be particularly careful with material moving toward a port. Copper in a container heading for export attracts attention precisely because that is the route stolen material takes.
Treat a seller who will not say where power cable came from as a decision already made for you.
Where Philippine copper scrap goes
Exports are modest but real. Philippine exports of copper waste and scrap to South Korea were worth 15.20 million dollars in 2024, within total Philippine copper exports to that country of 3.56 billion dollars, most of which is refined copper and alloys rather than scrap.
That proportion is the useful part. The Philippines exports far more refined and semi-finished copper than scrap, which tells you the domestic chain absorbs most of what is collected rather than shipping it out raw.
Selling scrap metal in Philippines: rules, ID and payment
Because there is no dealer register, the checks that protect a seller are physical rather than administrative. Look for the business permit displayed on the wall; a shop that holds one has been through the barangay and the local government, and a shop that will not show one has not. Ask the price per kilo before anything goes on the scale rather than after, and watch the display while it is weighed. Both of those are standard advice from Filipino sellers for a reason. The street buyer who calls at your gate will sometimes pay more than a shop, and carries the corresponding risk: no premises, no receipt, and nobody to go back to. For a household lot that may not matter. For anything of real value it does.
Before you sell
- Separate copper, aluminium and steel before you go. Mixing is always paid at the lower rate, and the phrase Filipino sellers use for it is exact: haluan ay laging pabor sa bumibili, mixing always favours the buyer.
- Ask the price per kilo before the material goes on the scale, not after it has been weighed.
- Weigh at home first if you can, even on a bathroom scale. You will know immediately whether the shop's number is in the right range.
- Look for the business permit on display. There is no dealer register to check, so the permit on the wall is the check.
- Ask for a receipt. A shop can give you one; a street buyer cannot.
Scrap prices by city in Philippines
City pages carry local yard prices and directories for the main scrap markets. Pages that are not live yet are shown without a link.
Scrap yards in Philippines
Find a yard by region or city, or use your location to see the nearest. Every listing shows where its details came from and when they were checked.
Yard listings for Philippines are being added from official dealer registers and trade directories. Nothing is published until it has been verified against a named source, which is why this section is not yet populated.
Philippines scrap price FAQ
Do junk shops in the Philippines need a special scrap licence?
No. There is no scrap metal dealer licence in the Philippines. A junk shop registers as an ordinary business: DTI or SEC for the business name, BIR for a TIN, a barangay clearance, a mayor's or business permit, a sanitary permit and environmental clearance from the DENR or the local environment office.
How do I know a junk shop is legitimate?
Look for the business permit on display. Since there is no dealer register to check against, the permit on the wall is the practical test. A shop that has one has been through the barangay and the local government; a shop that will not show one has not.
Is it better to sell to a junk shop or to a street buyer?
A street buyer sometimes pays more and carries the matching risk: no premises, no receipt and nobody to return to if the weight or the count is wrong. For a small household lot that may be an acceptable trade. For anything of real value, the shop is the safer side of it.
What is kalakal?
The everyday Filipino word for recyclable material. Some barangays run materials recovery facilities that take kalakal directly from residents; in Quezon City residents have been able to exchange it for stamps redeemable against household goods, which is a separate route from selling to a junk shop.
Why is the junk shop price lower than the price on this page?
Because the board is a reference for the metal and a junk shop is several layers below the processor that eventually buys it. The shop pays for premises, a scale, staff and its own margin, then sells upward to a consolidator who does the same. The seller at the start of the chain sees the price after all of those.
Should I separate metals before going to the junk shop?
Yes, and it is the single change that most affects what you are paid. A mixed load is priced at the lower rate, which Filipino sellers put more directly: haluan ay laging pabor sa bumibili. Mixing always favours the buyer.
When should I ask the price?
Before the material goes on the scale. Asking afterwards leaves you negotiating from a weight that has already been taken, and watching the display while it is weighed costs nothing.
Can I get a receipt for scrap I sell?
From a registered junk shop, yes, and it is worth asking for one, particularly if you are selling on behalf of a business, school or agency rather than a household. A street buyer cannot provide one.
Sources and methodology
Prices on this page start from the global reference board (US dollars per pound or per ton), are multiplied by a Philippines market factor of 0.86 that reflects local demand, freight and trade rules, and are converted to PHP at 1 USD = 62.63 and to metric units (kilograms and tonnes). The board refreshes daily, with the time of the latest update shown at the top of the page.
Reference sources
- Department of Trade and Industry and Securities and Exchange Commission business registration requirements
- Local government business permit and barangay clearance requirements, as summarised by Philippine business advisory services
- Barangay materials recovery facility programmes, including the Quezon City kalakal redemption scheme
Prices are indicative and for information only; they are not offers to buy or sell. Actual yard prices depend on grade, quantity, location and the buyer. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will check it against our sources.