Every copper grade priced in EUR per , updated daily from exchange settlements and this market's own level.
Copper scrap in Germany is worth €3.37 to €12.04 per kg today, depending on grade. Bare Bright Copper sits at the top of the board and communication wire at the bottom, a spread of about 3.6 times. Prices are quoted in EUR per kg and move daily with the exchange settlement.
Yards grade copper by cleanliness, coating and gauge. The spread from the top grade to the bottom runs 25 to 35 percent, so identifying what you hold matters more than the day you sell.
Converted from the exchange settlement at this market's rate and level. Indicative reference prices, not offers. Aluminium, brass and steel prices in Germany.
Dealers quote non-ferrous scrap in euros per kilogram, often as a percentage of the LME price for copper, and ferrous scrap in euros per tonne using the German grading system (for example Sorte 1 to 8 for steel scrap). Prices are usually quoted net of VAT for business sellers.
Against the global reference: Strong domestic mill and foundry demand keeps German prices at or slightly above the US reference after conversion.
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.
The board above is the national indicative level. City yards trade around it rather than exactly on it, because local competition, freight to the nearest consumer and export demand all move the spread. Two quotes in the same city can differ by several percent on the same morning.
Hamburg is Germany's scrap export gateway and home to one of Europe's largest copper refineries. Proximity to a refinery matters: clean grades have a domestic consumer here rather than a long haul.
Copper that moves here: Bare bright and number 1 copper for direct refinery feed; Copper granules and processed insulated wire.
The Rhine-Ruhr belt around Dusseldorf is the densest industrial region in Germany, with more metal consumers per square kilometre than anywhere else in the country. Competition between them keeps quotes tight.
Copper that moves here: Copper busbar and heavy cable from industrial refits.
Munich runs on precision engineering, vehicles and electronics rather than heavy industry, so the copper here arrives as fine wire, motor windings and electronic assemblies more often than as pipe or plate.
Copper that moves here: Motor windings and transformer copper; Fine insulated wire and cable from electronics work; Number 1 copper from plant maintenance.
Scrap dealers must be registered under the Circular Economy Act (Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz) and keep records of the material they buy. Private sellers should expect to show ID, and buyers of larger lots must document the origin of the metal. Cash is still used for small lots but many dealers pay by transfer.
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.
Germany is Europe's largest producer and consumer of scrap, with electric arc furnaces, foundries and secondary aluminium and copper smelters spread across the Ruhr, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria. Domestic demand is strong enough that German prices often lead the European market, and the country trades heavily with its neighbours through the Rhine and the port of Hamburg.
German scrap grading is precise and prices are published widely through trade associations, so quotes between regions are tighter than in most countries. Duisburg and the wider Ruhr are the ferrous hub; Hamburg and the Rhine ports handle exports and imports.
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.
Grade decides more of your payment than timing does. Four checks settle almost every load.
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.
| Currency | Euro (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Price units | Per kg for non-ferrous, per tonne for ferrous |
| Benchmarks | LME prices in euros, BDSV steel scrap index |
| Main hubs | Duisburg and the Ruhr, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin |
| Trade position | Net exporter within Europe |
Between €3.37 and €12.04 per kg depending on grade, quoted in EUR. The board above shows every grade, updated daily.
Because they have different outlets. A merchant who can sell straight to a refinery pays closer to the reference than one who has to ship material onward, and both build their freight into the quote. Local competition does the rest, which is why calling two or three merchants is worth more than picking the day.
Bare Bright Copper, at €12.04 per kg today. It is the strictest grade on the board: clean, uncoated, unalloyed wire of heavier gauge, with no oxidation and no attachments.
Above roughly 48 percent copper recovery, usually yes. Below it, usually not. Thick building cable strips quickly and pays; thin communication cable does not. Burning insulation is never the answer: it is unlawful in most jurisdictions and it downgrades the copper rather than improving it.
Yes, though less than most sellers expect. The board on this page is the national indicative level and city yards trade around it. What moves a local quote is how many buyers can economically reach you, how far the material has to travel to a consumer, and whether there is an export outlet nearby.
Daily. Copper settles on the exchange every business day and every scrap grade moves with it, because each grade is priced as a share of the refined metal price rather than set independently.
$6.22 / lb
C$8.34 / lb
£9.74 / kg
A$18.08 / kg
€11.81 / kg
€12.16 / kg
€11.81 / kg
€11.81 / kg
€11.93 / kg
CN¥90.30 / kg
¥2,077 / kg
₩18,096 / kg
₹1,193 / kg
৳1,483 / kg
Rs 3,274 / kg
AED 47.84 / kg
SAR 47.82 / kg
₺691.10 / kg
R 186.00 / kg