What scrap metal is worth the most?

Clean copper is usually the most valuable everyday scrap metal per kilogram. Brass and bronze come next, because they are copper alloys. Stainless steel and aluminium sit close together after that. Steel and iron are worth the least per kilogram, but they make up most of the tonnage.

Buyers value precious metals and catalytic converters differently, so this guide does not rank them. The order is a rule of thumb, because grade, cleanliness and quantity can move any metal up or down.

This guide quotes no yard rates, because they change too often. See scrap metal prices in Brisbane for how a quote is built.

Which scrap metals are worth the most?

Per kilogram, clean copper usually leads, because its world price is far above aluminium, zinc, lead or iron ore.

Australian data shows the gap between two familiar metals. These are indicative prices for material leaving recovery facilities, not yard rates. They show how far aluminium sits above steel.

• 1,997 dollarsa tonne, baled aluminium drink cans, March 2024National waste report 2024
• 340 dollarsa tonne, tin-plate steel cans, March 2024National waste report 2024

What decides how much a metal is worth?

Five things set the value of a pile. You can't control the first. You can influence the other four.

The metal's world price. Base metals trade on world markets, and traders price them in US dollars. This table gives the World Bank's latest monthly averages. They are for refined metal, not scrap, but they show how far apart the metals sit.

Steel scrap is not on the list. Steelmakers buy it, so its price follows the steel industry's demand rather than a base metal market. Iron ore, a raw material for steel, was 90.8 dollars a dry tonne in October 2026 (World Bank Pink Sheet).

Brass is a copper and zinc alloy, so its metal value sits between the two. Stainless steel contains nickel in many grades, but nickel is only part of the alloy. So a stainless item is worth far less per kilogram than nickel itself.

Recoverable content. What counts is how much usable metal is inside an item, not how big it looks. Insulated cable is metal wrapped in plastic. A motor is steel around copper windings.

A University of Cambridge teaching package says taking each small motor in a scrapped car apart to reach its copper is not economically viable. So a yard prices mixed items by what it can recover.

Grade. Grade says what the metal is and how pure it is. Published scrap specifications classify scrap by type and quality, and the scrap metal we buy page lists common grade names. Worldsteel says scrap made in factories is more valuable and widely used, because of its concentrated volume and low level of other materials.

Scrap from discarded products is harder to collect, transport and sort. The Australian Aluminium Council says smelters generally can't accept used aluminium directly. Used aluminium usually has an unknown composition and can carry contamination.

Contamination. Paint, plastic, rubber, oil, dirt and other metals add weight but not value, so a buyer deducts for them. Some contamination costs more than it looks.

Worldsteel says steelmakers cannot remove copper during steelmaking. They manage it by sorting and dilution, which is why copper-bearing parts on steel items matter. Recyclers sort aluminium into coated and uncoated groups and take out paper and plastic.

Quantity. A yard pays for handling and freight per load, so a larger single-metal load costs less to handle per kilogram. The Aluminium Council says compacting scrap cuts freight, storage and handling costs. Whether a buyer changes its rate for volume is its own decision.

How do world prices become yard prices?

The London Metal Exchange (LME) sets daily official reference prices for base metals such as copper. Producers and buyers typically build physical contracts on a reference price like it, then negotiate discounts and premiums for location, grade, impurities and delivery terms (LME Insight, February 2018).

A yard's buying rate works backwards from that chain. The yard estimates what sorted, processed metal will fetch from a mill, smelter or exporter. It subtracts its costs and pays the rest.

Much of the end market is overseas, so overseas demand, shipping and the exchange rate all reach the yard gate.

• 90%recovery rate for Australia's metal waste, 2022-23National waste report 2024
• 43%share of recovered metals that Australia exported, including all aluminiumNational waste report 2024
• 64%share of Australia's waste exports that was scrap metalNational waste report 2024
• Over 95%share of Australian scrap aluminium that goes overseasAustralian Aluminium Council

The national report also says quantities of metal waste tend to rise with prices. Stored material comes out of scrap yards, industrial sites and farms.

Why do yards pay less than the headline price?

The headline price is for refined metal of a set grade, not for a pile of mixed scrap. Four gaps separate the two.

A wide gap is not automatically unfair. It means you should compare quotes for the same grade, the same unit and net weight. The guide to selling scrap in Queensland explains what the compliance gap involves.

What about precious metals and catalytic converters?

The same World Bank sheet prices gold, silver and platinum per troy ounce, not per tonne. Catalytic converters carry value for the precious metals inside, and the British Metals Recycling Association names rhodium among them (BMRA). Forge Recyclers buys them for recycling: see catalytic converter recycling in Brisbane.

How to get more value from your scrap

Six habits help you get the most from a load.

1. Find out what you have with a magnet and a close look, using the identification guide.
2. Keep copper away from brass, aluminium away from steel and cable away from everything else.
3. Take off plastic, rubber, timber and loose fixings if it is quick and safe, and see the preparation guide for what to leave alone.
4. Never burn insulation, and handle only cable that is dead.
5. Gather it in one go, because a larger sorted load costs less to handle per kilogram than many small ones.
6. Ask how the yard will grade and weigh it, and keep the docket.

Then ask for a quote on the quote page, and Forge Recyclers will reply with the next steps.

For detail on each metal, see scrap copper, scrap brass, scrap aluminium and stainless steel scrap.