Indicative. Final price depends on grade, contamination and quantity, and is confirmed on weighment at pickup.
The rate above is what National Recycling is paying for copper scrap today in Mumbai and Thane. It is recalculated every day from live London Metal Exchange copper pricing, so it moves with the market rather than sitting stale for weeks the way most published scrap rates do.
What it is not is a single fixed price. Copper is graded, and the gap between the best and worst grade is wide enough to matter on any load bigger than a few sacks. The rest of this page explains how that grading works, so you can look at your own material and form a realistic view before anyone quotes you.
Copper scrap grades, and why yours might price differently
Every copper deal in India is really a conversation about grade. Two lots of the same weight can differ by 30% or more in value depending on what is mixed in and how much work it takes to get to clean metal. These are the categories that come up most often in industrial loads.
| Grade | What it is | How it prices |
|---|---|---|
| Bright copper millberry |
Clean, bare, uncoated wire of 16 gauge or thicker. No insulation, no oxidation, no solder, no alloy. | The benchmark. Prices at or close to the headline rate. |
| No. 1 copper | Clean tube, busbar, heavy wire and clippings. Free of paint, solder and fittings. Some darkening is fine. | Slightly under bright, typically a small single-digit percentage. |
| No. 2 copper | Miscellaneous unalloyed copper with solder, paint, oxidation or light attachments. Old pipe with fittings usually lands here. | Meaningfully below No. 1, because it needs cleaning before it melts clean. |
| Insulated wire | Copper with PVC or rubber sheathing. Priced on recoverable copper content, which varies enormously by cable type. | Depends entirely on recovery percentage. Thick power cable recovers far more than thin data cable. |
| Burnt wire | Insulation burned off rather than stripped. | Discounted. Burning damages the metal surface and is an environmental offence besides. |
| Copper-bearing scrap | Motors, transformers, alternators, AC coils. Copper is present but bound up with steel and windings. | Priced on assessed copper content, not on gross weight. |
How this affects your quote. If a load is mixed and unsorted, it has to be priced conservatively, because the buyer is carrying the risk of what is underneath. Sorted material is quoted on what it actually is.
Where industrial copper scrap actually comes from
In Mumbai and Thane the volume we collect comes from a fairly predictable set of sources, and knowing which bucket yours falls into helps set expectations.
- Electrical contractors and site clearances. Offcuts of power cable, busbar trunking, earthing strip. Usually good grade, usually mixed with steel and PVC waste that needs separating.
- Factory maintenance. Burnt-out motors, failed transformers, old panel wiring. Copper-bearing rather than clean copper, and priced on assessed content.
- Building demolition and refurbishment. Plumbing tube, old wiring pulled from conduit, AC copper. Grade varies wildly across a single job.
- IT and telecom decommissioning. Data cabling, power distribution, UPS wiring. Thin conductors, so recovery percentage is low even though the copper is clean.
- Manufacturing process scrap. Turnings, punchings and offcuts from copper components. Often the cleanest material of all, and consistent enough to price confidently.
What moves the copper rate
Copper is one of the most globally-priced commodities there is, which is why a scrap rate in Bhandup tracks a number set in London. Four things do most of the moving.
The LME price
London Metal Exchange copper is the reference for physical copper worldwide. When LME moves, Indian scrap follows within a day or two. This is why the rate at the top of this page changes daily rather than weekly.
The rupee
Copper is priced internationally in dollars. A weaker rupee lifts the rupee price of copper even when the dollar price has not moved at all, which is why scrap rates sometimes rise on days when global copper is flat.
Domestic demand
Construction activity, power transmission projects and electrical manufacturing all pull on copper. Indian demand is structurally rising because of grid expansion and electrification, which supports scrap pricing over the long run.
Import duty and policy
Changes to duty on copper cathode and scrap shift the economics of imported versus domestic material, and those shifts pass through to what recyclers can pay.
Getting more for your copper
Most of the value left on the table in industrial loads comes down to three habits, and none of them require equipment.
- Strip what is worth stripping. Thick power cable rewards stripping. Thin cable generally does not, because the labour costs more than the uplift.
- Keep grades apart. Two separate piles of bright and No. 2 will always beat one mixed pile of the same total weight. Mixed material prices to its worst component.
- Do not burn insulation. It lowers the grade, it is illegal under Indian environmental rules, and any licensed buyer will price it down or decline it.
One more, less obvious: do not let copper sit for years. Storage does not improve grade, and the money is dead capital in the meantime.
How we weigh and pay
Pickup is free for business quantities. We bring the vehicle and the labour, weigh on site, and the weighment slip is what the payment is calculated against. Grade is agreed before loading, not argued afterwards. For large or mixed loads we will usually want to see photographs first, or send someone to look, precisely so there is no disagreement at the weighbridge.
Documentation comes as standard: weighment record, material-wise breakup, and recycling paperwork you can put in front of an auditor. If the load includes anything data-bearing, certified destruction is part of the job.
Other rate calculators
Copper scrap questions we get asked
What is the copper scrap rate today in Mumbai?
The live figure is at the top of this page, recalculated daily from London Metal Exchange copper pricing converted to rupees per kilogram. It represents clean copper. Lower grades price below it, and the gap between bright copper and heavily contaminated material can exceed 30%.
Why is your rate different from another dealer’s?
Usually grade assumptions. A rate quoted without specifying grade is not really a quote. Ask what grade it applies to, and whether it is before or after deductions for moisture, attachments and sorting. A number that looks higher on the phone often lands lower at the weighbridge.
How much copper is actually in a cable?
It varies from roughly a fifth to well over half the gross weight depending on conductor size and sheathing. Thick armoured power cable recovers a high percentage. Thin multi-core data cable recovers very little relative to its weight. This is why insulated wire is always quoted on recoverable content rather than gross weight.
Do you buy copper from motors and transformers?
Yes. These are priced as copper-bearing scrap on assessed copper content rather than on total weight, because most of what you are handing over is steel, insulation and windings. For transformers we will want to know the type and whether oil has been drained.
Is there a minimum quantity?
We are set up for business volumes rather than household quantities. Send a list or photographs and we will confirm whether it clears our pickup minimum, and if it does not we will say so rather than waste your time.
How quickly do you pay?
Payment is against the weighment slip. Terms are agreed before collection, so there is nothing to negotiate once the vehicle is loaded.
Do you provide documentation for audit?
Yes. Weighment record, material-wise breakup and recycling documentation, which is what most procurement and finance teams need for their own reporting.