Scrap Metal Value Calculator
Estimate what your scrap is worth — based on live LME exchange prices, updated every trading day
Scrap metal is priced off the London Metal Exchange: the yard takes the current exchange quotation and pays a percentage of it, discounted for sorting, purity, and processing. That is why copper scrap prices move daily even though your local yard never mentions the LME.
This calculator does the arithmetic transparently: it takes today’s real LME price (updated every trading day, same feed as our LME prices page), applies the grade percentage you choose, and multiplies by your weight. For brass and bronze — which are not quoted on the LME — it derives a base price from the alloy composition (63% copper + 37% zinc for common brass; 92% copper + 8% tin for tin bronze).
Typical yard percentages: clean, sorted, uncontaminated metal (bare bright copper wire, clean aluminum extrusions) fetches 85–95% of exchange; mixed or lightly contaminated scrap 60–80%; low-grade material with steel attachments, insulation, or coatings 30–50%.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the scrap yard pay less than the LME price?
The exchange price applies to certified primary metal in standard lots. A yard must sort, verify, process, transport, and remelt your scrap — and carry price risk until it sells. The discount covers those costs plus margin. 70% of LME for clean mixed scrap is a healthy benchmark.
How much is copper scrap worth per kg?
Take today’s LME copper price per tonne (shown above), divide by 1000, and multiply by your grade percentage. Example: LME at $9,600/t and clean scrap at 90% ≈ $8.64/kg. This calculator does exactly that with live data.
Why is there no steel in this calculator?
Steel scrap trades on different benchmarks (regional shredded-scrap indices, LME steel scrap futures) with prices around $250–450/t — two orders of magnitude below copper. Yard prices for steel are so regional that an LME-derived estimate would mislead; ask your local yard directly.
How accurate is the brass price estimate?
It is a composition-weighted average of LME copper and zinc, which is exactly how the industry derives brass base prices. Actual yard prices for brass typically land at 65–80% of that derived value depending on grade (yellow vs red brass, clean vs plumbing).