Why am I not paid the full LME price for my scrap?

The London Metal Exchange price is for pure refined metal such as copper cathode. Scrap is not pure, so the LME price is the starting benchmark that buyers discount from based on the grade, contamination and form of your material.

How can I get a higher price for my scrap metal?

Sorting is the single biggest factor in your control. Separating grades at source, keeping material clean and free of attached steel, plastic or moisture, and presenting baled or sorted loads all move you closer to the LME benchmark price.

What makes scrap metal prices go up and down?

Prices track the LME benchmark, then move with energy costs, export demand and shipping rates, the grade and contamination of the material, and local factors such as volume, logistics and seasonal timing.

Does the UK export scrap metal?

Yes. The UK is a net exporter of scrap metal, so global demand and container shipping costs feed directly into domestic prices. Strong export demand lifts prices, while expensive freight or port congestion drags them down.

What Moves Scrap Metal Prices — Data Vision Tech Solutions

If you sell scrap metal, the price you're quoted can seem to move for no reason. It rarely does. Behind every figure at the weighbridge sits a chain of global and local factors. Understanding them helps you sell at the right time and judge whether an offer is fair.

1. The global benchmark: the LME

Most non-ferrous metals — copper, aluminium, lead, zinc, nickel — are priced against the London Metal Exchange (LME). The LME sets a daily world reference price for refined metal. When you read that "copper hit $9,500 a tonne", that's the LME cash price for pure copper cathode.

Your scrap isn't pure refined metal, so you're never paid the full LME price — but that benchmark is the starting point everything else is discounted from. When the LME rises, scrap prices generally follow within days; when it falls, the same.

2. The discount to LME: grade and contamination

From that benchmark, a buyer works backwards. The cleaner and more consistent your material, the closer to LME you'll be paid. The discount widens with:

Mixed grades — bright copper wire pays far more than mixed "braziery" copper with brass or solder attached.
Contamination — attached steel, plastic, rubber, or moisture all reduce the recoverable metal and the price.
Form — baled, sorted material is worth more than loose, dirty mixed loads that still need processing.

The single biggest thing in your control is sorting. Separating grades at source — rather than tipping everything into one skip — is of