Copper vs Brass vs Aluminium: Which Scrap Metal Price Is the Highest in Melbourne?

Picture the scene. You’ve cleared out the shed, and there are three piles on the driveway: some old pipe, a bucket of taps and fittings, and a stack of window frames. You’ve got one trailer and one trip to the yard, and you’d like to know which pile is actually worth the effort.

It’s a good question, and we get asked it a lot. The scrap metal price for each of these three can be wildly different, even though they might all look like “just old metal”. Here’s how copper, brass and aluminium compare, why the gap is so big, and what you can do to get the best return from each.

The short answer

Copper has the highest scrap metal price of the three. Brass comes second. Aluminium comes third.

That order holds nearly every week. The actual dollars per kilo move with the market, but copper stays on top, brass sits in the middle, and aluminium sits at the bottom of this group. Steel and iron are below all three, which is why a magnet is such a handy tool to keep in the ute.

Copper: the clear winner

Copper is the metal I’d look for first in any pile. It carries electricity better than almost any affordable metal, so it ends up in wiring, motors, transformers and plumbing, and that steady demand keeps the price high.

It’s been strong lately too. Global copper hit a record high in January 2026 and has stayed well above where it was a year earlier. Earlier this year, Australian yards were reportedly paying around $10 to $11.75 a kilo for clean bare bright copper, roughly $10 to $11 for clean pipe, and about $9 to $10 for mixed copper. Insulated cable pays a good deal less, because the plastic has to come off first. Take those as a guide to how the grades compare, not as today’s quote. Ring us for the rate on the day.

You’ll find it in old wiring, plumbing pipe, hot water systems, air conditioner coils, motors and switchboard bars.

Want today’s scrap metal price?

Whether you’ve got a bucket of old taps, a coil of copper pipe or a trailer full of aluminium, it’s worth finding out what it’s worth. Call the team at Fast Copper Scrap on 0403 458 309 or visit www.fastcopperscrap.com.au to check today’s scrap metal price in Melbourne and get a quote.