Home › 🟠 Copper Melting Scrap 🟠 Copper Melting Scrap
Non-ferrous melting scrap traded as Barley, Berry, Birch, Candy, Cliff and other named grades.
📅 Last Updated: July 2026
About Copper Melting Scrap
Copper melting scrap is a high-value non-ferrous category that is closely tracked in the trade. It is recovered from wire and cable, plumbing tube, electrical machinery, and automotive radiators, among other sources.
The grading system, maintained by the Recycled Materials Association, gives each variety a short name. Bare bright copper wire — clean, uncoated, electrolytically pure — trades under the name Barley. Number 1 copper — clean, unalloyed, uncoated — trades as Berry, Candy, or Cliff depending on form. Number 2 copper, which may carry light coatings or solder, trades as Birch or Cliff. Insulated copper wire, which still contains copper but mixed with the insulation, trades as Daniel, Druid, Dream, and others depending on the recovery yield.
Principal Grades
The principal grades of copper melting scrap, as defined in the ReMA specifications:
Barley (Bare Bright Copper Wire)
Clean, untinned, uncoated, unalloyed copper wire, free of burnt material and brittle wire. The highest grade — close to refined metal in purity.
Berry
Clean copper wire — Number 1 grade, free of insulation, tin, solder, or other coatings. Untinned, unalloyed.
Candy / Cliff
Number 1 copper — pipe, tube, bus bar, commutator, and similar wrought copper. Free of solder, brazed joints, and excessive corrosion. Minimum 98% copper.
Birch
Number 2 copper — miscellaneous unalloyed copper scrap with coatings, paint, light tinning, solder, or attached fittings. Minimum 96% copper.
Cliff
Number 2 copper wire — covered with coatings, tin, or solder. Also includes light copper such as flashing and gutters.
Cobra
Number 1 copper wire nodules — chopped or shredded clean copper wire.
Druid
Copper-bearing insulated wire, mixed plastic-insulated copper wire scrap with high recovery yield.
Daniel
Heavy copper wire scrap with insulation, lower recovery yield.
Dream
Mixed copper-bearing material — low-yield mixed wire and cable scrap.
Elias
Insulated aluminium wire, listed here because it often appears alongside copper wire in scrap streams.
Companies Active in Copper — By Country
Companies grouped by country. Each handles copper melting scrap among other categories.
🇮🇳 India (23)
Hindalco Industries (Aditya Birla)
Mumbai • Aluminium and copper producer, publicly listed
🏷️ Aluminium · Copper
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreVedanta Ltd (Sterlite Copper, BALCO)
Mumbai • Copper, aluminium, zinc producer, publicly listed
🏷️ Copper · Aluminium · Zinc
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreJain Resource Recycling Ltd
Chennai • Non-ferrous recycler, publicly listed
🏷️ Copper · Aluminium · Zinc
🤖 About Company🔍 Explore→ View all India companies
🇺🇸 United States (28)
Sims Metal Management
New York • Diversified scrap multinational, ASX-listed
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium · Stainless Steel
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreRadius Recycling (Schnitzer Steel)
Portland, OR • Diversified scrap, NASDAQ-listed
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreCommercial Metals Company (CMC)
Irving, TX • Diversified steel and metals, NYSE-listed
🏷️ Steel · Copper
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreEMR USA Metal Recycling
Camden, NJ • EMR subsidiary
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium · Stainless Steel
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreAlter Trading Corporation
St. Louis, MO • Midwest diversified operator
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreCohen USA / Cohen Recycling
Middletown, OH • Family-owned diversified recycler
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium
🤖 About Company🔍 Explore→ View all United States companies
🇬🇧 United Kingdom (18)
European Metal Recycling (EMR)
Warrington • Diversified scrap, privately held
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium · Stainless Steel
🤖 About Company🔍 ExploreBiffa plc Metal Recycling
High Wycombe • Publicly listed waste/metals
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium
🤖 About Company🔍 Explore→ View all United Kingdom companies
🇨🇳 China (17)
China Minmetals Corporation
Beijing • State-owned, all metals
🏷️ Steel · Copper · Aluminium · Zinc
🤖 About Company🔍 Explore→ View all China companies
🇩🇪 Germany (15)
→ View all Germany companies
🇯🇵 Japan (7)
Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
Tokyo • Copper, aluminium, alloys, TSE-listed
🏷️ Copper · Aluminium
🤖 About Company🔍 Explore→ View all Japan companies
🇰🇷 South Korea (5)
→ View all South Korea companies
🇹🇷 Turkey (5)
→ View all Turkey companies
🇻🇳 Vietnam (9)
→ View all Vietnam companies
🇲🇾 Malaysia (9)
→ View all Malaysia companies
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (19)
→ View all United Arab Emirates companies
🇮🇹 Italy (5)
→ View all Italy companies
📈 Copper — Exchanges & Trade Bodies
Where copper and its scrap are priced, and the organisations that anchor the trade.
LME
London Metal Exchange — global base metals pricing
🔗 lme.comCME Group (COMEX)
US futures — copper, aluminium, ferrous scrap
🔗 cmegroup.comICSG
International Copper Study Group, Lisbon
🔗 icsg.orgCopper Development Association
Copper Alliance market development body
🔗 copper.orgBIR — Bureau of International Recycling
The global federation of the recycling industry, Brussels
🔗 bir.org⚠️ Disclaimer
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