Copper Scrap Prices in Australia Today

Australian yards quote non-ferrous scrap in dollars per kilogram and ferrous scrap per tonne. Grades follow local names such as bright copper, candy copper (number 1) and burnt copper, and heavy melt or light melt steel. The AUD-USD exchange rate is a major driver: a weaker dollar lifts local prices.

Against the global reference: Australian prices carry an export freight discount to US levels but move quickly with the exchange rate.

Grade names travel less well than the metal does. Whatever a local merchant calls it, the specification behind each grade is the same one used on export contracts, which is why the ReMA code appears on every card above.

Scrap laws are set by each state. New South Wales requires dealers to register, verify seller ID and pay by non-cash methods under the Scrap Metal Industry Act 2016; Victoria and Queensland have similar cashless and record-keeping rules for second-hand dealers. Motor vehicles need proof of ownership and deregistration paperwork.

Copper attracts more scrutiny than any other scrap metal because it is the most stolen. A yard that asks for identification is following the law; one that does not is the greater risk to you, since a load with no paper trail is the load a buyer can dispute later.

Australia generates more scrap than its steelworks and smelters can absorb, so export demand from Asia sets the ferrous price and LME prices in Australian dollars set the non-ferrous price. Container exports of copper, aluminium and brass leave through Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, while ferrous scrap ships in bulk to mills in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Prices are strongest in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane where yards compete; regional and Western Australian sellers face longer freight to a port or to the Port Kembla and Whyalla steelworks and receive lower bids.

Copper sits differently in that picture from the ferrous grades. It is worth enough per kilogram to travel, so a merchant a long way from a refinery can still pay close to the reference by shipping to one. That is why the spread between the best and worst copper quote in a country is usually narrower than the spread on steel, where freight eats the margin.

1. Is it coated? Scratch a strand with a file. Copper shows reddish; a silver surface means tinned copper, which cannot reach the top grade whatever its condition.
2. Is the core copper? Cut a strand and look at the end. Copper outside with silver inside is copper-clad aluminium, and it is paid as aluminium, not copper.
3. Is it insulated? Insulated wire is priced on recovery, meaning the share of total weight that is actually metal. Heavy cable recovers around 90 percent, household cable about 65, and communication cable under 50.
4. Is anything attached? Solder, paint, brazing, steel fittings and brass ends all pull a piece down a grade. Cutting them off takes seconds and moves real weight up the board.

Sorting into separate piles before you weigh is the highest-paid work in this trade. A mixed load is graded at the lowest grade present, so one soldered joint in a clean pile can regrade the lot.

• Expect cashless payment and an ID check in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
• Convert the LME copper price to Australian dollars per kilogram to judge a quote.
• Aluminium cans, extrusion and cast are paid differently; keep them apart.
• Ask for the price by grade rather than one figure for the load.
• Call at least two merchants. The spread between yards in one city is often wider than a day of movement in the metal.