Scrap Metal Prices in Tamworth
Tamworth's New England agricultural and freight-hub role generates steady farm-machinery and trucking scrap volume.
Current scrap metal prices in Tamworth
Spot price equivalents adjusted for Tamworth's regional rate (0.87×). Actual yard payouts apply the grade-specific payout rate on top — typically 12–78% of spot depending on grade.
| Metal | Sydney spot | Tamworth equiv. | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | $20.56 | $17.89 | Grades & payouts → |
| Aluminium | $4.62 | $4.02 | Grades & payouts → |
| Brass | $15.61 | $13.58 | Grades & payouts → |
| Steel | $0.42 | $0.37 | Grades & payouts → |
| Stainless Steel | $2.37 | $2.06 | Grades & payouts → |
| Lead | $2.65 | $2.30 | Grades & payouts → |
| Zinc | $5.57 | $4.85 | Grades & payouts → |
| Nickel | $23.31 | $20.28 | Grades & payouts → |
How Tamworth compares
Scrap yards in Tamworth pay roughly 13% below the Sydney national benchmark (0.87× regional adjustment). Among Australian regional centres, rates here are closest to Bundaberg (0.87×). Rates here reflect moderate transport costs to Sydney for export and processing.
Where the yards are in Tamworth
Tamworth's scrap trade is in Taminda, the industrial suburb on the western side of the city beside the Peel River, protected by the levee built after the 1998 flood. A regional chain's yard on Lockheed Street buys aluminium, copper, brass, batteries, electric motors, radiators, e-waste, steel and car bodies, and independents nearby offer mobile baling, off-site excavators and free drop-off for scrap steel.
Several operators advertise farm and bulk clean-ups across the New England, North West and Upper Hunter, and pickup collectors from Newcastle also cover the city, so a large farm or industrial clean-out can usually be quoted by more than one buyer.
Where Tamworth's metal goes
Tamworth is 420 km from Sydney but only about 250 to 300 km from Newcastle down the New England Highway and Hunter Expressway, so ferrous heads to the port yard on Kooragang Island, with a chain-owned yard at Muswellbrook consolidating loads on the way. Sydney's Rooty Hill electric arc furnace is the end point for much of it. The Hunter run is the freight cost priced into local rates.
What's different about selling in Tamworth
NSW rules apply: registered dealers, no cash, and seller details recorded, with Return and Earn for drink containers. Around 307,000 hectares of the district is farmed for beef, sheep, grain, dairy and poultry, and the city is a New England freight and equine hub, so farm machinery, stock-handling gear and truck scrap dominate ferrous supply. Aviation maintenance and training at the airport add a small stream of aluminium and specialist alloys. The Oxley Highway links Tamworth to Port Macquarie 280 km east, but there is no processing that way; the Hunter remains the route that matters.
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 Tamworth
Estimated scrap value at Tamworth yards. Assumes properly prepared material (oil drained, copper stripped from motors, refrigerant degassed where required).
Scrap yards in Tamworth
4 scrap yards listed in the Tamworth area with addresses, phone numbers, and ratings. Browse all 4 yards →
Frequently asked questions about scrap metal in Tamworth
Where are the best scrap metal yards in Tamworth? +
Our yard directory lists Tamworth 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 Tamworth pay less than Sydney for scrap metal? +
The 13% gap to Sydney reflects transport costs. Metal sold in Tamworth 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 Tamworth? +
Copper, by a wide margin. Clean bare-bright copper currently pays around $13.95 per kilogram in Tamworth. 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 Tamworth 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 — Albury, Central Coast, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, 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 Tamworth 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 Tamworth yards close early on weekends or operate reduced hours, so confirm opening times before transport.