Scrap Metal Prices in Sydney
Estimated scrap yard payouts in Sydney on : about $15.61/kg for bare bright copper, $2.91/kg for aluminium extrusion, $9.13/kg for yellow brass. These are our estimates from MetalpriceAPI market prices × typical payout rates × Sydney's 1.00× regional factor, not quotes from Sydney yards; call a yard before you go. Where these numbers come from.
Sydney has Australia's largest scrap metal market by volume, driven by construction in Greater Sydney and large industrial activity in Western Sydney corridors like Wetherill Park, Silverwater, and Liverpool. Competition between yards keeps payouts close to national benchmarks.
Current scrap metal prices in Sydney
Spot price equivalents adjusted for Sydney's regional rate (1.00×). Actual yard payouts apply the grade-specific payout rate on top — typically 12–78% of spot depending on grade.
| Metal | Sydney spot | Sydney equiv. | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | $20.01 | $20.01 | Grades & payouts → |
| Aluminium | $4.48 | $4.48 | Grades & payouts → |
| Brass | $15.21 | $15.21 | Grades & payouts → |
| Steel | $0.42 | $0.42 | Grades & payouts → |
| Stainless Steel | $2.41 | $2.41 | Grades & payouts → |
| Lead | $2.75 | $2.75 | Grades & payouts → |
| Zinc | $5.46 | $5.46 | Grades & payouts → |
| Nickel | $23.83 | $23.83 | Grades & payouts → |
Where these numbers come from
| Figure | Value | Source | Type | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper spot price | A$20.01/kg | MetalpriceAPI (LME-linked market data) | Market data feed | |
| Aluminium spot price | A$4.48/kg | MetalpriceAPI (LME-linked market data) | Market data feed | |
| Brass spot price | A$15.21/kg | Calculated: 67% copper + 33% zinc (MetalpriceAPI) | Our calculation from feed prices | |
| Steel spot price | A$0.42/kg | Fixed site estimate of A$0.42/kg | Fixed estimate, not a market feed | |
| Stainless Steel spot price | A$2.41/kg | Calculated: 8% nickel (MetalpriceAPI) + a fixed A$0.50/kg chromium allowance | Our calculation, partly a fixed estimate | |
| Lead spot price | A$2.75/kg | MetalpriceAPI (LME-linked market data) | Market data feed | |
| Zinc spot price | A$5.46/kg | MetalpriceAPI (LME-linked market data) | Market data feed | |
| Nickel spot price | A$23.83/kg | MetalpriceAPI (LME-linked market data) | Market data feed | |
| Sydney regional factor | 1.00× | Our model (freight distance and yard rate differences) | Our estimate | |
| Grade payout rates | 12–78% of spot | Our estimate from published yard rate cards | Our estimate |
Spot prices are converted to Australian dollars per kilogram. Yard payouts are our estimates (spot × grade payout rate × regional factor), not quotes from any yard. Set when the site launched on 2026-05-16 and not updated since. No live steel scrap price feed is used. The chromium allowance is a fixed figure set on 2026-05-16, not a market price. Full detail: methodology.
How Sydney compares
Sydney is the national benchmark for scrap metal payouts in Australia (1.00× regional adjustment). The city has the densest concentration of yards in the country, driven by Greater Sydney's construction activity and large industrial corridors in the west and south-west.
Where the yards are in Sydney
Sydney's yards follow its industrial land. The biggest cluster is the Smithfield and Wetherill Park belt in the west, a mixed industrial area of factories, warehouses and trade businesses along Long Street and Percival Road, where non-ferrous buyers run weekly collection routes for electricians' cable, plumbers' brass and manufacturers' aluminium offcuts. Further out, St Marys and Rooty Hill hold the heavy end of the trade: a national recycler's large ferrous and non-ferrous processing yard and the state's only scrap-fed steel mill sit a few kilometres apart.
Closer in, Silverwater, Auburn and Lidcombe mix copper specialists with cash-for-cars operators, and Greenacre has a dense knot of copper and general metal traders. Alexandria and Botany serve the inner south, Mortdale, Rockdale and Hurstville cover the St George area, Artarmon is the main yard address on the North Shore, and Milperra and Minto serve the south-west. Car-removal operators advertise from almost every suburb and mostly feed bodies into the larger ferrous yards.
Where Sydney's metal goes
Most of the city's ferrous scrap ends up at the Sydney Steel Mill at Rooty Hill, about 42 km west of the CBD, where an electric arc furnace melts recycled scrap into billet for reinforcing bar and other construction steel. Because that furnace is a short truck run from almost anywhere in the basin, and because several large yards compete to feed it, Sydney ferrous prices are the benchmark the rest of the country is discounted from. Non-ferrous grades are sorted and baled at the larger yards for domestic mills or containerised export.
What's different about selling in Sydney
Under the Scrap Metal Industry Act 2016, NSW dealers must be registered with NSW Police, cannot pay cash, must record the seller's details for every transaction and cannot buy a vehicle body that has lost its VIN, chassis or engine number. Supply is dominated by construction and demolition, so steel and copper volumes track the building cycle more than anything else. The practical difference in Sydney is choice: with this many buyers within a short drive, quotes for the same load can vary more between two Sydney yards than between Sydney and a regional centre, so ring two or three first.
Sources for the Sydney sections above (last checked ):
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 below (more on our state-by-state rules guide). Rules change; confirm with the yard before you go.
Sources (last checked ):
- ablis.business.gov.au
- nsw.gov.au: Discussion paper Scrap Metal Act 2016 review (PDF)
- service.nsw.gov.au: submit a notice of disposal for a vehicle
- service.nsw.gov.au: cancel the registration on a written off vehicle
- returnandearn.org.au: about return and earn
- epa.nsw.gov.au: expansion return and earn container deposit scheme
Other New South Wales scrap markets
Yards across New South Wales pay rates relative to their distance from major smelters and ports.
Popular items: what they're worth in Sydney
Estimated scrap value at Sydney yards. Assumes properly prepared material (oil drained, copper stripped from motors, refrigerant degassed where required).
Scrap yards in Sydney
80 scrap yards listed in the Sydney area with addresses, phone numbers, and ratings. Browse all 80 yards →
Frequently asked questions about scrap metal in Sydney
Where are the best scrap metal yards in Sydney? +
Our yard directory lists Sydney 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 Sydney pay the highest scrap metal rates in Australia? +
Sydney sets the national benchmark because of its dense buyer network, the Port of Sydney for export-bound metal, and short transport distances to most domestic smelters. Other cities adjust downward based on freight cost back to Sydney or to the nearest port.
What's the highest-paying scrap metal in Sydney? +
Copper, by a wide margin. Our estimate for clean bare-bright copper in Sydney is around $15.61 per kilogram (spot price × 78% payout rate × 1.00 regional factor). 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 Sydney scrap yards require 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. (Scrap Metal Industry Act 2016 and Scrap Metal Industry Regulation 2024; last checked 2026-09-02.)
Can I be paid cash for scrap metal in Sydney? +
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. (Last checked 2026-09-02.)
What other NSW cities have scrap yards? +
Yes — Albury, Central Coast, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, and others all have active scrap yards covered on this site.