Scrap Metal Prices in Melbourne
Melbourne's scrap industry is concentrated in the western and northern suburbs — Laverton, Brooklyn, Sunshine, Campbellfield. The Port of Melbourne handles a large share of Australia's metal exports, keeping wholesale prices competitive.
Current scrap metal prices in Melbourne
Spot price equivalents adjusted for Melbourne's regional rate (0.98×). Actual yard payouts apply the grade-specific payout rate on top — typically 12–78% of spot depending on grade.
| Metal | Sydney spot | Melbourne equiv. | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | $20.94 | $20.52 | Grades & payouts → |
| Aluminium | $4.47 | $4.38 | Grades & payouts → |
| Brass | $15.80 | $15.49 | Grades & payouts → |
| Steel | $0.42 | $0.41 | Grades & payouts → |
| Stainless Steel | $2.31 | $2.26 | Grades & payouts → |
| Lead | $2.70 | $2.65 | Grades & payouts → |
| Zinc | $5.38 | $5.27 | Grades & payouts → |
| Nickel | $22.58 | $22.13 | Grades & payouts → |
How Melbourne compares
Scrap yards in Melbourne pay roughly 2% below the Sydney national benchmark (0.98× regional adjustment). Among Australian capital cities, rates here are closest to Brisbane (0.97×). Proximity to major ports and smelter networks keeps Melbourne's rates close to the national best.
Where the yards are in Melbourne
Melbourne's scrap trade runs in three belts. The western belt follows the West Gate Freeway and Old Geelong Road through Laverton North, Brooklyn, Derrimut and Sunshine North. Laverton North is almost entirely industrial and is best known for metal and steel recycling, and Brooklyn holds a large processing yard equipped with fragmentisers, shears and balers. The northern belt follows the Hume Highway through Campbellfield, Somerton, Thomastown, Epping and Preston, where the mix leans toward non-ferrous specialists buying copper, brass and aluminium from tradies and small manufacturers. The south-eastern belt is centred on Dandenong South, Dandenong and Hallam, with further yards out at Bayswater and Knoxfield.
Buyer types differ by belt. The west is where the national recyclers keep their weighbridges and heavy processing, and it is the natural destination for demolition steel and factory offcuts. The north and south-east have more small independents, and both are thick with car wreckers and cash-for-cars operators who collect end-of-life vehicles across the suburbs and feed the bodies back to the shredders in the west.
Where Melbourne's metal goes
Ferrous scrap has a genuine local end market. InfraBuild's Laverton mill melts scrap in an electric arc furnace to make reinforcing bar and other long products, around 750,000 tonnes a year and expanding toward one million. Heavy steel and shredded car bodies from the western yards travel only a few kilometres to reach it. Non-ferrous metal and surplus steel go out through the Port of Melbourne, the country's largest container port. Having a mill, a shredder and a port inside one metropolitan area is why Melbourne sits just below Sydney on this site's regional adjustment.
What's different about selling in Melbourne
Victoria banned cash for scrap on 30 May 2018 under the Second-Hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1989, so every yard pays by electronic transfer or cheque, records your identification and photographs vehicles and some copper. CDS Vic, the container deposit scheme that started on 1 November 2023, pays 10 cents per eligible drink container at more than 600 refund points, which is normally better than can prices at a yard. With dozens of competing yards within half an hour of each other, ringing two or three before a decent load pays off.
Rules for selling scrap in Victoria
- Governing law
- No stand-alone scrap metal Act. Scrap metal dealers and auto wreckers are regulated under the Second-Hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1989 and its regulations, and must be registered as second-hand dealers with the Business Licensing Authority (Consumer Affairs Victoria).
- Photo ID
- Yes, for every scrap sale. When buying scrap metal the dealer must record the seller's name, address and identification details. Second-hand dealers accept one photo ID (passport, driver licence, a photo document issued by a statutory authority, a tertiary student card or a firearms licence) or two non-photo documents such as a birth certificate, citizenship certificate, marriage certificate or a Commonwealth health or pensioner card.
- Cash payments
- Cash is banned, in force since 30 May 2018. A dealer must not pay or receive cash for scrap metal. Payment can only be by a cheque that is not transferable or payable to cash, or by electronic funds transfer, and e-currency such as bitcoin is not allowed. Penalty up to 200 penalty units, or a 12 penalty unit on-the-spot fine.
- Scrapping a vehicle
- A scrap metal dealer must not buy a scrap motor vehicle if its vehicle identifier (the VIN on vehicles built from 1 January 1989) has been removed, defaced, obliterated or altered, and a vehicle 15 years old or newer must be entered on the written-off vehicle register as a statutory write-off. VicRoads registration cancellation steps could not be confirmed from a fetched page.
- Container deposit scheme
- CDS Vic (Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme), 10 cents per eligible container. Opened 1 November 2023. Most aluminium, glass, plastic and carton drink containers between 150 mL and 3 litres are eligible.
- Also worth knowing
- For each purchase the dealer records the item description, quantity or weight, vehicle identifier if any, seller details, date and time, a copy of the payment and the staff member's name; on selling it also records the date, time, method and place of disposal. A lot of items each worth under $100 can be recorded as a single entry.
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 Victoria scrap markets
Yards across Victoria pay rates relative to their distance from major smelters and ports.
Popular items: what they're worth in Melbourne
Estimated scrap value at Melbourne yards. Assumes properly prepared material (oil drained, copper stripped from motors, refrigerant degassed where required).
Scrap yards in Melbourne
87 scrap yards listed in the Melbourne area with addresses, phone numbers, and ratings. Browse all 87 yards →
Frequently asked questions about scrap metal in Melbourne
Where are the best scrap metal yards in Melbourne? +
Our yard directory lists Melbourne 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 Melbourne pay less than Sydney for scrap metal? +
The 2% gap to Sydney reflects transport costs. Metal sold in Melbourne eventually travels to a smelter or export port — typically via the state capital — 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 Melbourne? +
Copper, by a wide margin. Clean bare-bright copper currently pays around $16.00 per kilogram in Melbourne. 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 Melbourne scrap yards require photo ID? +
Yes for most non-ferrous metals and always for lead-acid batteries and catalytic converters. Victoria 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 VIC cities have scrap yards? +
Yes — Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Mildura, and others all have active scrap yards covered on this site.
When is the best time of week to bring a load to a Melbourne 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 Melbourne yards close early on weekends or operate reduced hours, so confirm opening times before transport.