Irony Copper is worth $3.68 per lb today in the United States, ranking 9 of 12 copper grades, against $6.22 for bare bright copper at the top. That is 37 percent below the general copper scrap rate. Copper with steel attached, priced for the separation.
Irony copper is copper with steel or iron still attached: nails in roofing, brackets on pipe, steel cores in cable, screws in bus bar. It is priced well below the clean grades because the yard has to separate the metals before melting. Most of it can be moved up a grade with a magnet and a few minutes.
- Versus the general copper scrap rate-37%
- Change today+$0.05
Price history could not be loaded.
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What irony means
Irony, sometimes written as dirty, is a grade description rather than an insult. It means non-ferrous metal with ferrous metal attached that has to be dealt with before the copper can be refined.
The yard is not paying less because the copper is worse. It is paying less because someone at the yard has to do the separation you did not do, and the deduction covers that labour plus the risk of missing some.
Where irony copper comes from
Roofing and gutters with steel nails, screws and hangers still in them. The light copper page covers why pulling the steel is the first job on any roofing lot.
Pipe with brackets. Plumbing runs arrive with steel pipe clips, hangers and threaded steel fittings.
Cable with steel cores. Some armoured and overhead cable carries a steel strength member inside the copper strands.
Motors and transformers are the extreme case, where copper windings sit inside steel laminations. These are priced as copper-bearing scrap rather than irony copper, because the copper is a minority of the weight. The transformer page covers that market.
Bus bar with steel bolts left in the holes.
The magnet sweep
The whole grade problem is solved with one tool.
Run a magnet over every piece before it goes in the bucket. Anything that pulls is steel and has to come off. Nails pry out, screws back out, brackets unbolt, and clips snap off. The cleaning guide works through which removals pay.
What cannot be separated by hand, such as a steel core inside a stranded cable, stays irony. Sell it as such and do not pretend otherwise; yards check.
Irony against the clean grades
The spread is large. On the table above, irony sits far below number 2, and the gap is entirely the separation labour.
That means the return per minute on pulling steel out of copper is among the best in the trade. A roll of roofing with fifty nails in it becomes light copper in ten minutes of work, and light copper pays substantially more than irony.
When to leave it irony
Two cases.
Cable with steel members inside. You cannot separate it without shredding, so sell it as irony or as insulated wire by recovery, whichever the yard prefers.
Very small quantities. A single bracket on a single length of pipe is not worth a trip to the toolbox. A bucket of them is.
Irony Copper prices around the world
| Market | Currency | Price | Today |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | USD | $3.68 / lb | ▲ +1.38% |
| Canada | CAD | C$4.94 / lb | ▲ +1.38% |
| United Kingdom | GBP | £5.76 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Australia | AUD | A$10.70 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Germany | EUR | €7.13 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| France | EUR | €6.99 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Italy | EUR | €7.20 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Spain | EUR | €6.99 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Netherlands | EUR | €6.99 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Belgium | EUR | €7.06 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| China | CNY | CN¥53.42 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Japan | JPY | ¥1,229 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| South Korea | KRW | ₩10,706 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| India | INR | ₹706 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Bangladesh | BDT | ৳878 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Pakistan | PKR | Rs 1,937 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| UAE | AED | AED 28.31 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Saudi Arabia | SAR | SAR 28.29 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Turkey | TRY | ₺408.88 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| South Africa | ZAR | R 110.04 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Ireland | EUR | €6.78 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Singapore | SGD | S$9.77 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
| Kenya | KES | KSh 882 / kg | ▲ +1.38% |
Where irony copper comes from, market by market
| City | Market | What moves there |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | United States | Number 1 copper and stripped bare bright from electrical and demolition work |
| New York | United States | Radiators, motors and mixed non-ferrous batched to tier weights |
| Dallas | United States | Prepared heavy melt and demolition steel cut to size |
| London | United Kingdom | Brass fittings and mixed brass from renovation |
| Birmingham | United Kingdom | Brass in all its forms, graded finely by yellow, red and mixed |
| Sharjah | United Arab Emirates | Compressors and mixed copper-bearing scrap |
| Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | Demolition steel and rebar cut to mill size |
| Toronto | Canada | Prepared heavy melt and demolition steel for the Hamilton mills |
| Bare Bright Copper | $6.22 / lb |
|---|---|
| Number 1 Copper | $5.95 / lb |
| Number 2 Copper | $5.48 / lb |
| Light Copper | $4.41 / lb |
| Tinned Copper | $5.35 / lb |
| THHN Wire | $2.67 / lb |
| Romex Wire | $2.34 / lb |
| Communication Wire | $1.74 / lb |
| Copper Pipe and Tubing | $5.81 / lb |
| Copper Roofing and Sheet | $4.41 / lb |
| Copper Bus Bar | $6.01 / lb |
Questions people actually ask
What is the irony copper price today?
The live figure is at the top of this page. It sits well below the clean grades because it includes the cost of separating the steel.
What does irony mean on a scrap ticket?
Copper with steel or iron attached. It is a grade description covering the separation work the yard has to do, not a comment on the copper itself.
How do I move irony copper up a grade?
Run a magnet over it and remove everything that pulls. Nails, screws, brackets and clips all come off by hand, and the copper underneath grades as whatever it was before the steel went on.
Is roofing copper with nails in it irony?
Yes. Pull the nails and it becomes light copper, which pays considerably more.
Can a yard refuse irony copper?
They rarely refuse it, but they price it low. Some will grade a badly mixed lot as scrap steel with a copper allowance, which is worse again.
Is a motor irony copper?
No, it is copper-bearing scrap, priced per pound on the whole item because copper is a minority of the weight. Irony copper is copper that is mostly copper with some steel attached.
Does one nail make a whole bundle irony?
It can. Yards grade what they see, and a visible nail in a bundle invites the lower grade for the lot. Check every piece.
What about steel-cored cable?
It stays irony or sells as insulated wire on recovery, because the steel cannot be separated by hand. Ask the yard which grade they prefer for it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the irony copper price today?
The live figure is at the top of this page. It sits well below the clean copper grades because the price includes the cost of separating attached steel before melting.
What does irony mean on a scrap ticket?
Copper with steel or iron attached. It is a grade description covering the separation work the yard has to do, not a judgement on the copper itself, which is usually fine.
How do I move irony copper up a grade?
Run a magnet over every piece and remove everything that pulls. Nails, screws, brackets and clips come off by hand, and the copper underneath grades as whatever it was before the steel was attached.
Is roofing copper with nails in it irony?
Yes. Pull the nails and it becomes light copper, which pays considerably more. A roll of flashing with fifty nails becomes light copper in about ten minutes of work.
Can a yard refuse irony copper?
They rarely refuse it, but they price it low. A badly mixed lot may be graded as scrap steel with a copper allowance, which pays worse still.
Is an electric motor irony copper?
No. Motors are copper-bearing scrap, priced per pound on the whole item because copper is a minority of the weight. Irony copper is mostly copper with some steel attached.
Does one nail make a whole bundle irony?
It can. Yards grade what they see, and a visible nail in a bundle invites the lower grade for the whole lot. Check every piece before it goes in the bucket.
What about steel-cored cable?
It stays irony, or sells as insulated wire priced on copper recovery, because the steel strength member cannot be separated by hand. Ask the yard which grade they prefer for it.