A bloke came into our Green Fields yard a few months back with about 30 kilos of copper in the back of his ute — old hot water pipe, some cable from a shed rewire, a couple of cut-up gutters. He’d seen a copper price online and had a number in his head. When his load graded out at three different rates, he thought he was being done over.
He wasn’t. He just didn’t know how copper scrap prices in Adelaide actually work — and to be fair, most yards never explain it. So here it is, straight.
Copper doesn’t have one price. It has grades.
When you hear “copper is worth $X per kilo,” that number almost always refers to bare bright — clean, shiny, uncoated copper wire, the best of the best. Most of what comes into an Adelaide yard isn’t that.
Bare bright (the top rate)
Stripped electrical wire with no insulation, no coating, no tarnish. Think the shiny strands inside heavy cable. This is the benchmark grade — everything else is priced down from here.
#1 copper
Clean copper pipe and tube — dry, unpainted, no fittings, no solder. Most plumbing offcuts land here if they’ve been cut clean. It pays slightly under bare bright.
#2 copper (mixed)
Copper with paint, solder joints, light corrosion, or brass fittings still attached. Old gutters and weathered pipe usually grade here. Still well worth selling — just don’t expect the headline rate.
Insulated wire (PVC-coated cable)
Cable with the plastic still on gets paid on its copper recovery — roughly what percentage of the weight is actually copper once the insulation is accounted for. Heavy single-core cable has a high copper content and pays well; thin flex and extension leads have a lot of plastic and pay accordingly. See what we buy on our insulated cable recycling page.
On a typical 30 kg mixed load, the difference between the top and bottom grade can be $50–100. That’s why no honest yard can give you one exact number over the phone.
Where the price actually comes from
Copper is traded globally, and Adelaide yard prices follow the world market — mainly the London Metal Exchange — with the exchange rate and local demand layered on top. That’s why prices move week to week, sometimes day to day, and why a rate you saw online in March means nothing in July.
A few things that genuinely move what you’re paid:
- The global copper price — outside everyone’s control, including ours.
- Your grade mix — the single biggest factor you can influence.
- Contamination — steel screws, brass fittings, solder and paint all drag a load down a grade.
- Moisture and dirt — you’re paid for copper, not water or render dust.
One thing that doesn’t move the price: haggling on the headline rate. Be wary of any yard that advertises a sky-high number — the payout can still come out lower through harsh grading. Watch the scale, ask what grade you got, and compare like for like.
Ten minutes of sorting is the best-paid work you’ll do
You don’t need to do much prep, but a little sorting pays for itself:
- Separate pipe from wire from insulated cable. Three piles instead of one mixed bin means each pile gets graded on its own merits instead of the whole lot averaging down.
- Cut brass fittings off pipe if it’s quick to do. A tap or valve left on the end can knock a length of #1 pipe down a grade.
- Don’t burn insulation off cable — ever. It’s illegal in SA, it’s dangerous, and burnt copper is downgraded anyway. Bring insulated cable in as-is; whether it’s worth stripping by hand depends on the cable type and quantity, and we’ll tell you straight before you waste a weekend on it.
- Keep it dry. Wet loads weigh heavy and grade suspicious.
If you’re a sparkie or plumber with regular offcuts, this sorting habit adds up fast over a year — a milk crate of separated bright wire at the end of each job beats a wheelie bin of mixed scrap every time.
What to expect at the yard
At our yard, the process is the same for everyone: your copper is sorted by grade, weighed on calibrated scales while you watch, and you’re paid on the spot once it’s graded — with photo ID, which is a legal requirement for scrap sales in South Australia and takes about thirty seconds.
Before you load the trailer, it’s worth checking the current copper scrap price guide — we keep indicative per-kilo ranges for each grade there, reviewed against the market regularly. One honest caveat that applies at every yard in Adelaide, not just ours: the final price always depends on inspection, grading, weighing and the market rate on the day. Anyone who guarantees you an exact price sight-unseen is guessing.
If you’re coming from the northern suburbs — Salisbury, Elizabeth, Pooraka, Mawson Lakes — we’re just off Port Wakefield Road in Green Fields, usually under fifteen minutes’ drive.
The short version
Copper is the one metal where knowing your grades genuinely puts money in your pocket. Sort it into pipe, bright wire and insulated cable, skip the burning, check the guide before you drive, and sell your scrap copper to a yard that weighs and grades in front of you.
Ready to sell?
Got copper sitting in the shed? Check the current copper prices, or just bring it in to 12 Belfree Dr, Green Fields — no booking needed. Not sure what grade you’ve got? Call (08) 7225 9998 and describe it, or ask about texting us a photo. We’ll tell you whether it’s worth the trip before you hook up the trailer.
About the author
Abbas, Yard Manager, SA Copper Scraps. Abbas grades and weighs scrap metal at the Green Fields yard most days of the week, working directly with Adelaide tradespeople, renovators and households. *(Confirm name, title and a short real bio with the client before publishing — this is what turns the article into a genuine E-E-A-T signal rather than an anonymous post.)*
FAQs
How much is copper worth per kg in Adelaide right now?
It depends on the grade and the market that week. Bare bright pays the most, #1 pipe a little under, mixed copper and insulated cable less again. Our price guide shows current indicative ranges — the final figure is confirmed when your load is inspected, graded and weighed.
Why did my copper get three different prices?
Because it graded as three different products — say, bright wire, clean pipe and mixed. That’s normal, and it usually pays more than averaging the whole load at the lowest grade.
Is it worth stripping insulation off copper cable?
Usually not for small amounts — your time costs more than the uplift. For larger quantities of heavy single-core it can start to make sense. Bring it in and we’ll do the maths with you honestly.
Do I need ID to sell copper in SA?
Yes — photo ID is required by law for all scrap metal sales in South Australia. It protects legitimate sellers and takes half a minute.
Can you tell me an exact price over the phone?
No yard genuinely can — grade and weight decide the price, and neither can be judged down a phone line. We can give you a realistic range if you describe (or photograph) what you’ve got.
