Scrap Metal Prices

[Inner City Recycler]

I know prices vary from suburb to suburb within a city, between cities and states but I thought I'd reboot this to get a general idea of where prices are.
eg: My scrappy recently dropped his price of low grade insulated wire from $2 to $1.80. LGI is bread and butter for me so it makes a big difference.

26/05/2019 - Inner City scrapyard
Low Grade insulated wire $2/kg
AL/CU radiator $2.50/kg
Domestic AL $0.80/kg
Electric Motors $0.30
Ferrous - donation

26/05/2019 Outer West scrapyard (a mate scraps as well)
Pb Batteries (wet) $0.68
Domestic AL $1.00

11/06/2019 Inner City scrapyard
Pb Soft $1.50
Low Grade insulated wire $1.80
Domestic Stainless Steel $0.80
Ferrous including heavy melt - donation

[LoveaGoodScrap]

Outer Perth yard (you east coasters do alright with prices):

Stainless steel - 70c
Dom ally - 70c
Plum ally - $1.10
Wire (43%) - $1.30
Wire (20%) - 25c
Brass - $3.30
Lead - 80c
Insize and hard steel - 16c
Light steel - 8c
Copper 2# - $5.30
Copper shiny - $6.50

[Glen]

Just went to West Coast Metals in Perth.
Mid grade wire - $2.00
Low grade wire - $0.60
Steel and Aluminium about the same prices.

[Chris]

Thanks for the prices guys - it's good to see current numbers and variations around the country!
Brad, I can only assume that you get nothing (donation) for your ferrous due to very low quantities?? In one of Ben's videos about a week ago, he got 11c for pressing steel, and heavy insize is usually about double the pressing price. I notice that Ben puts heavy with light, but that's probably just more convenient as his scrap steel is 90% light gauge and it's probably more hassle to separate than what it's worth.
Does your low grade wire include plugs? I would have thought that a price of around $2 would be more clean mid-grade rather than low grade?
By the way - does anyone get anything for mains plugs cut from cords at all?
Cheers, Chris

[Inner City Recycler]

Thanks for the prices guys - it's good to see current numbers and variations around the country!
Brad, I can only assume that you get nothing (donation) for your ferrous due to very low quantities??

.
Australian Metal Company won't take ferrous as far as I can tell as I haven't been there as their prices are low. Their yard is really small.
Wolverton will take ferrous "as a favour" but won't pay for it. The do make sure they sort it into heavy melt & light for when they sell it.
Both of these yards are really close to the city so their rents would be high.
My old yard 16km south of Sydney CBD would only pay if you had 500kg+

I sent an enquiry to Sims Metal (also nearby) but they never replied.

Does your low grade wire include plugs? I would have thought that a price of around $2 would be more clean mid-grade rather than low grade?
By the way - does anyone get anything for mains plugs cut from cords at all?
Cheers, Chris

All wire has to be without plugs.
$1.80 Low Grade is insulated ribbon cable, comms cable, all the thin stuff from inside whitegoods, small diameter feed wire to cheap appliances and 3 core with double insulation.
My guy also pays $1.80 for Cat5/6 cable which I think might be low.
$3.00 medium grade is anything about the same gauge as extension leads with the outer covering removed (still single layer of insulation). I strip most 3 core appliance wire of the outer covering.
Any TPS (Thermoplastic Sheathed) wire I strip back to bare bright. It's worth $7-$7.50 but I haven't sold any yet.

I pull the brass out of mains plugs (male and female). I do it while watching TV. I get a lot of the UK power plugs here (lots of long term tourist and overseas workers on contract) and they have some nice chunks of brass.
I also cut the spade terminals off wiring. It all adds up. If you were doing it as a business it wouldn't be worth it but I multi-task watching YouTube or Netflix and drinking beer or tea so I'm value adding to what I normally do.

[Inner City Recycler]

From a month ago (03/06/19) Wolverton
Extruded Al $1.40
Domestic Al $0.80
Irony Al $$0.20
Pb Batteries $0.50
Coastal Brass (it was "dirty / irony" copper) $2.20

I'm seriously thinking of stockpiling and then making the 1hr / 60km trip west and getting 20% better prices.

[Okeden]

Chris, I get 20c/kg for all types of plugs. However as Inner City Recycler says, with normal electrical I pull the brass pins out. Worth it to me at $3+ a kilo. Cheers

[Chris]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes Bill, I remember you saying you sell plugs and pull the pins from larger ones. I'm not sure if any Melbourne yards will buy plugs though..
Brad, I've seen the UK plugs! They do have a larger brass yield than our feeble examples! I guess it all hinges on the price of brass (and ultimately, copper).
At this stage I'm just throwing plugs in a big barrel as I cut them off cords - I have to throw them somewhere after all, so it's not like it's an extra job.

[WEEE Ben]

It's worth pulling the brass prongs off, brass is good value and a 10lt bucket of those prongs weighs heaps.
the newer types have a softer prong for the top two, usually now with the black pvc insulation so they just break off but the earth prong can be pulled with the copper wire intact.
so you also get an inch or two of nice copper wire to add value.

Throwing plugs into a large bucket of tub will be a big job when you decide to process them, it's so much easier to pull the prongs at the same time you cut from the cord.
The remaining plug will still have some copper & brass left inside, I throw them into scrap steel bins like empty pc's or microwaves and still get steel shred for them, around 12c kg, $4 kg for the brass and around $7 kg for the copper wire so it adds up.

[Chris]

Thanks Ben, appreciate your input.
I was just throwing them in a tub as opposed to the bin, until I found out if they were saleable as they were. Not sure that I'll ever have time to process them!
Do any Melbourne yards actually buy plugs complete?

[Inner City Recycler]

Scrap run today as my workshop / cage was getting a bit unruly.

I thought I'd give Sims Metal Management a try.
I used their "get a quote" option on their website twice without a result despite waiting a few weeks between enquiries so don't waste your time with that.

I rang them yesterday and the receptionist was very helpful and emailed me some "example prices" and gave me the sales reps mobile because " he knows the prices better".

I rang the yard I'd been using and checked their latest prices:

LG insulated copper: $1.80
Pb Batteries: $0.50
Cast Al: $0.75
Extruded Al: $1.30
Domestic Al: $0.75
Ferrous: we don't buy that but we'll take it off your hands as a favour"

Went to Sims 2.7km up the road (15-20 minutes around here).
Yard concreted and really clean - low risk of punctures.
Staff very friendly and helpful.

Did I make bank? Hell yeah
LG insulated copper: $2.35 x 10kg = $23.50 (and the guy told me how to get more $$ out of my wire).
Pb Batteries: $0.67 x 50kg = $33.50
Cast Al: $0.90 x 7kg = $6.30
Extruded Al: $1.60 x 12kg = $19.20
Domestic Al: $0.95 x 4kg = $3.80
Aluminium Irony (high): $0.40 x 5kg = 2.00
#2 Copper (laquered motor windings): $6.85 x 2 = $13.70
Light Gauge Ferrous: $0.10 x 60 = $6.00 (I had some thick steel but we both agreed for the sake of 50c extra it wasn't worth sorting).

less waste disposal levy: $0.66 (yes 66c).

The money was paid as a credit to my credit card (or debit card if you desire). All they need is a licence. It's a really good system.

I was really happy. I got $20+ extra and they wanted my business and it was closer to home than I'd realised (distanes in my area are really weird due to dead end streets and construction zones.

I'll be going back and the other robbers can go and knotted.

[WEEE Ben]

Fair prices

[Chris]

Good report Brad - just goes to show why we need to shop around!

[Inner City Recycler]

Good report Brad - just goes to show why we need to shop around!

Indeed. I haven't the capacity to fill driers but there'll be a few microwaves getting filled with ferrous. When I'm out in the car I've left so many ovens and cooktops behind as well.

Next scrap run will be stainless steel and LG Cu insulated.