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Scrap copper prices

Copper is the most valuable metal most people will ever take to a scrapyard, and the grade you sell it as makes an enormous difference. The rates below are live per-kilo prices across every copper grade traded on ScrapBays, refreshed each trading day.

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Copper scrap prices by grade

All 14 Copper grades, highest first.

Scrap copper prices per kilo
GradePrice per kgChange
Dry Bright Wire£8.63▲ +0.64%
New Copper Tube£8.43▲ +0.64%
Clean Flat Electro£8.43▲ +0.64%
Greasy Bright Wire£8.18▲ +0.64%
Clean Tanks£8.13▲ +0.64%
Bright Ripe Wire£8.11▲ +0.64%
Copper Granules£8.11▲ +0.64%
No.2 Burnt copper wire£7.92▲ +0.64%
Tinned Electro£7.77▲ +0.64%
Braziery£7.56▲ +0.64%
Ascots/Greys£7.33▲ +0.64%
Clean Pyro£3.30▲ +0.64%
Plastic Pyro£2.51▲ +0.64%
Copper Elements£2.04▲ +0.64%

What moves the copper price

Scrap copper is priced off the London Metal Exchange copper contract. When LME copper rises, scrap follows within a day or two — buyers hedge against the exchange, so their offers track it closely.

What separates one grade from another is recovery: how much saleable copper a refiner gets out of a tonne of your material. Dry bright wire is almost pure, so it sits closest to the exchange price. Braziery copper carries solder, brass fittings and paint, so it is discounted to cover the loss.

Regional demand matters too. Areas with refining and processing capacity nearby carry lower haulage costs per tonne, and that difference tends to show up in what buyers can afford to pay.

Understanding copper grades

Dry bright wire is clean, unalloyed copper wire, bare and free of any coating — the highest grade and the benchmark everything else is discounted from.

New copper tube and clean flat electro are close behind: solid, uncoated copper with no solder or fittings. Clean tanks are cylinders with the brass boss and any steel removed.

Braziery copper is the catch-all for copper carrying solder, brass or light paint — most commonly stripped cylinders and heating pipework with fittings left on. Ascots and greys sit lower again.

Pyro and copper elements are the lowest grades, where copper is bonded to insulation or steel and recovery is poor. If you can separate the copper out yourself, you move up several grades and the price difference is substantial.

Getting a better price for your copper

  • Strip cable rather than selling it whole where the copper content justifies the time — high-grade bare wire can be worth several times the pluggy-cable rate.
  • Remove brass fittings and solder from tube and tanks. Clean tube can move a full grade above braziery.
  • Keep bright wire separate from anything tinned or coated. Mixing drops the whole load to the lower grade.
  • Never burn insulation off cable. It is illegal in the UK, it damages the copper, and buyers grade burnt wire down.

Scrap copper price questions

Everything you need to know about the product and billing.

Dry bright wire — clean, bare, unalloyed copper wire with no coating or insulation. It is the closest scrap grade to refined copper, so it carries the smallest discount to the exchange price. The live table above shows exactly what it is worth today.

Usually yes, if the cable has a high copper content and you have the time or a stripping machine. Bare bright wire sells at a considerably higher rate per kilo than insulated cable, because the buyer is paying for copper rather than for weight that is mostly plastic. For low-grade cable with thin conductors, the recovered weight often does not justify the effort.

Cylinders normally carry a brass boss, solder seams and sometimes a steel jacket. Until those are removed the material is graded as braziery rather than clean copper. Strip the brass and steel off and the same cylinder moves up to the clean tanks grade.

Yes. Under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 every seller must provide photographic ID, and it is illegal for a dealer to pay cash for scrap metal. Payment must be by bank transfer or cheque. Any buyer offering cash is operating outside the law.

Our copper prices are refreshed every trading day. Scrap prices track the underlying metal on the London Metal Exchange, which moves continuously, so a price quoted a week ago is rarely the price you will be paid today. Always check on the day you plan to sell.

The prices here are the rates buyers on ScrapBays are paying for clean, correctly sorted material. If your load is mixed, contaminated, still attached to other materials, or below a buyer's minimum weight, it will be graded down. Sorting and cleaning before you sell is the single biggest thing in your control.

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