Scrap Metal Prices in Albury
Albury-Wodonga's border position means sellers can compare NSW and VIC yards. Manufacturing and freight handling keep volume steady.
Current scrap metal prices in Albury
Spot price equivalents adjusted for Albury's regional rate (0.90×). Actual yard payouts apply the grade-specific payout rate on top — typically 12–78% of spot depending on grade.
| Metal | Sydney spot | Albury equiv. | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | $20.31 | $18.28 | Grades & payouts → |
| Aluminium | $4.56 | $4.10 | Grades & payouts → |
| Brass | $15.41 | $13.87 | Grades & payouts → |
| Steel | $0.42 | $0.38 | Grades & payouts → |
| Stainless Steel | $2.37 | $2.13 | Grades & payouts → |
| Lead | $2.65 | $2.38 | Grades & payouts → |
| Zinc | $5.45 | $4.91 | Grades & payouts → |
| Nickel | $23.33 | $20.99 | Grades & payouts → |
How Albury compares
Scrap yards in Albury pay roughly 10% below the Sydney national benchmark (0.90× regional adjustment). Among Australian regional centres, rates here are closest to Gladstone (0.90×). Rates here reflect moderate transport costs to Sydney for export and processing.
Where the yards are in Albury
Albury's yards are on the industrial side of town, in East Albury and South Albury near the rail line and the river flats, where a national recycler runs the largest ferrous and non-ferrous yard and auto dismantlers offer car removal and catalytic converter buying. Lavington, the city's largest suburb 6 km north on the old Hume Highway, is commercial rather than scrap territory, though it hosts the region's materials recovery facility for kerbside recycling.
Across the Murray, Wodonga and Bandiana in Victoria have their own wreckers and scrap buyers, and most local operators service both towns. That gives sellers two sets of yards under two state systems within a ten minute drive of each other.
Where Albury's metal goes
Albury is 554 km from Sydney but only 326 km from Melbourne, so the border city's scrap points south. The nearest scrap-fed steel mill is the electric arc furnace at Laverton in Melbourne's west, one of two such furnaces in the country, the other being at Rooty Hill in Sydney. In practice Albury-Wodonga ferrous prices follow Melbourne more than Sydney, with the 326 km freight leg taken out of what local yards can pay.
What's different about selling in Albury
There is no advantage in crossing the river to avoid paperwork. On the NSW side the Scrap Metal Industry Act 2016 bans cash and requires registered dealers to record seller details; on the Victorian side dealers must also refuse cash, pay only by non-transferable cheque or electronic transfer, and record the seller's identification and any vehicle identifier. Victoria's CDS Vic scheme pays the same 10 cents a container as the NSW scheme, with refund points in Wodonga. Supply comes from Hume Highway freight and logistics, manufacturing, and farms on both sides of the border, so farm clean-ups and truck and trailer scrap are a regular part of the trade.
Rules for selling scrap in New South Wales
- Governing law
- Scrap Metal Industry Act 2016 and Scrap Metal Industry Regulation 2024, administered by the NSW Police Force. Any business dealing in scrap metal must be registered with NSW Police (registration lasts three years).
- Photo ID
- Yes, for every sale. The dealer must record each transaction including the parties involved, and the Regulation prescribes the photo identification a seller can use: an Australian driver licence (NSW or another jurisdiction), a NSW Photo Card, or a foreign driver licence subject to conditions. No weight or value threshold is set out in the sources reviewed.
- Cash payments
- Cash is banned. Section 12 of the Act prohibits a dealer paying for scrap metal with cash, a cheque payable to cash, or in kind, and from advertising cash payment. All trade must be paid electronically or by cheque. The 2020 statutory review paper lists a $1,100 penalty notice for the dealer.
- Scrapping a vehicle
- Dealers must not buy or dispose of an unidentified motor vehicle (section 14), so the VIN must be intact. If you sell a car with its plates to a wrecker, submit a notice of disposal to Service NSW. If you sold it without plates or it was written off, cancel the registration and return the plates to a service centre, within 14 days for a written-off vehicle, bringing proof of identity, the cancellation form and the plates.
- Container deposit scheme
- Return and Earn, 10 cents per eligible container, running since December 2017. From mid-2027 the scheme expands to wine and spirit bottles, cordial and concentrate containers, and larger containers up to 3 litres.
- Also worth knowing
- The dealer must keep transaction records (date, parties, description of the metal, payment method) for three years and must report suspected stolen scrap metal to police (section 13). Dealers are exempt from recording a vehicle's identifier if it was crushed, cubed or shredded before the transaction.
Summarised from the legislation and government guidance linked on our state-by-state rules guide. Rules change; confirm with the yard before you go.
Other New South Wales scrap markets
Yards across New South Wales pay rates relative to their distance from major smelters and ports. Sydney is the state capital and typically has the most competitive rates in the state.
Popular items: what they're worth in Albury
Estimated scrap value at Albury yards. Assumes properly prepared material (oil drained, copper stripped from motors, refrigerant degassed where required).
Scrap yards in Albury
4 scrap yards listed in the Albury area with addresses, phone numbers, and ratings. Browse all 4 yards →
Frequently asked questions about scrap metal in Albury
Where are the best scrap metal yards in Albury? +
Our yard directory lists Albury yards with addresses, phone numbers and Google ratings, but we don't rank them — the best yard for you depends on the metal, the load size and who is paying well that week. The practical approach is to call 2-3 yards before transporting a load: published rates are useful guides, but actual offers vary by day, load size, and material quality.
Why does Albury pay less than Sydney for scrap metal? +
The 10% gap to Sydney reflects transport costs. Metal sold in Albury eventually travels to a smelter or export port — typically via Sydney — and yards price the freight cost into their offer. Our regional adjustment is modelled from observed yard rates plus distance to processing facilities.
What's the highest-paying scrap metal in Albury? +
Copper, by a wide margin. Clean bare-bright copper currently pays around $14.26 per kilogram in Albury. Brass and aluminium follow, with steel paying the least per kilogram but compensating through volume — most ferrous loads are weighed on commercial weighbridges where small differences in rate matter less than tonnage.
Do Albury scrap yards require photo ID? +
Yes for most non-ferrous metals and always for lead-acid batteries and catalytic converters. New South Wales legislation requires yards to record seller identification on regulated transactions, primarily to deter metal theft. A driver's licence is the most commonly accepted form. Cash payments above certain thresholds may require additional documentation under state-specific regulations.
What other NSW cities have scrap yards? +
Yes — Central Coast, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, Newcastle, and others all have active scrap yards covered on this site. Sydney (the New South Wales capital) generally has the most yards and most competitive rates in the state.
When is the best time of week to bring a load to a Albury yard? +
Tuesday through Thursday mornings generally produce the best experience. Yards are less crowded than Mondays (when weekend volume arrives), prices are stable mid-week, and weighbridge wait times are shorter. Many Albury yards close early on weekends or operate reduced hours, so confirm opening times before transport.