How Much Does Copper Cost Per Pound?

Updated on August 2, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 13 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

Copper is worth about $6.18 to $6.51 per pound at the exchange level as of late July and early August 2026, depending on whether the reference is the London Metal Exchange cash price or a COMEX futures contract. A U.S. scrap yard may pay about $4.65 to $5.45 per pound for clean bare-bright, No. 1, or No. 2 copper, while insulated wire, motors, mixed metal, and contaminated copper can bring less than $2 per pound.

The exchange quote is not the price a consumer pays for copper pipe, wire, sheet, bar, or fabricated parts. Retail copper includes mill premiums, manufacturing, cutting, packaging, freight, dealer margin, and sales tax. Scrap payouts move in the opposite direction because buyers deduct for insulation, solder, paint, corrosion, steel attachments, processing, and uncertain recovery.

Copper prices are quoted per pound in U.S. futures and scrap markets, and per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Grade, purity, physical form, location, quantity, and delivery terms change the usable price.

Article Highlights

• The July 31, 2026 LME copper cash offer was $13,633 (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 11.4 full-time workweeks, before taxes) per metric ton, equal to about $6.18 per pound.
• August 2026 COMEX copper futures were near $6.33 per pound, while Micro Copper was near $6.51.
• Bare-bright scrap was quoted around $5.30 to $5.45 per pound at current U.S. yards and price trackers.
• No. 1 copper was near $5.00 to $5.22 per pound, with No. 2 near $4.65 to $4.95.
• Insulated copper wire may bring only $1.85 to $3.75 per pound, depending on copper recovery.
• A futures quote does not include the cost of turning copper into pipe, wire, sheet, roofing, or finished parts.
• A standard COMEX copper contract represents 25,000 pounds, making it unsuitable for casual scrap-price speculation.

Copper Prices by Market and Grade

Copper category	Current price or value	What the figure represents
LME cash copper	About $6.18 per lb.	Global refined-copper reference converted from metric tons
COMEX copper futures	About $6.33 to $6.51 per lb.	Exchange contract price for a specified delivery month
Bare-bright copper wire	$5.30 to $5.45 per lb.	Clean, uncoated, unalloyed copper wire
No. 1 copper	$5.00 to $5.22 per lb.	Clean tubing, flashing, bus bar, or wire meeting yard rules
No. 2 copper	$4.65 to $4.95 per lb.	Lower-purity copper with solder, oxidation, coating, or attachments
High-recovery insulated cable	$3.40 to $4.10 per lb.	Heavy cable with a large copper share
Mixed insulated wire	$1.85 to $2.55 per lb.	Wire with insulation and lower recoverable copper content
Copper motors or transformers	$0.20 to $0.50 per lb.	Mixed assemblies containing steel, insulation, and copper windings
Retail copper pipe	Often $6 to $10+ (about 12 to 20 minutes at $30 per hour) per ft.	Finished plumbing product, not a raw copper price

The July 31 LME official price showed a copper cash bid of $13,632 per metric ton and offer of $13,633. Dividing the offer by 2,204.62 pounds produces about $6.18 per pound.

The U.S. benchmark was higher. CME listed the August 2026 contract near $6.329 per pound, while the Micro Copper contract was near $6.5145 on August 1. Contract month, market timing, U.S. inventories, freight, and regional supply can create a gap between London and New York prices.

What You Are Actually Pricing

Copper can refer to refined cathode, wire rod, bus bar, tube, sheet, flashing, cable, alloy, scrap, or metal contained inside equipment. Each form has a different price because the amount of processing and recoverable copper changes.

Exchange-grade copper is a standardized wholesale commodity. CME delivery rules call for Grade 1 electrolytic copper cathodes, while the LME publishes global reference prices for approved refined metal. A local seller with 40 pounds of old pipe does not own exchange-grade cathode and cannot claim the full futures value.

Scrap yards classify copper by recovery and preparation. Clean stripped wire receives the strongest payout. Tubing with solder, paint, brass fittings, or corrosion may fall into No. 2 or a mixed category. Insulated cable is valued partly by the expected percentage of copper after granulation or stripping.

The Copper Development Association’s material guide also distinguishes common high-conductivity, oxygen-free, deoxidized, and alloyed copper products. Purity, alloy, temper, shape, and certification affect the commercial value.

Current Scrap Copper Payouts

A New Jersey yard listed bare-bright wire at $5.45 per pound, No. 1 tubing and flashing at $5.15, and No. 2 tubing or bus bar at $4.95 in late July 2026. Its mixed insulated wire price was $1.90.

A separate national price tracker reported bare bright at $5.45 per pound, No. 1 copper at $5.22, No. 2 at $4.65, and insulated wire at $2.55. ScrapMonster recorded a high U.S. bare-bright yard quote of $5.30 per pound on July 21.

These figures are local or compiled asking rates, not guaranteed nationwide payments. Yard inventory, trucking distance, refinery terms, load weight, customer account status, market timing, and the material presented at the scale can change the final ticket.

The old claim that all scrap trades at a fixed 20% to 25% discount is wrong. At a $6.18 LME reference, a $5.45 bare-bright payout equals about 88% of benchmark. No. 2 at $4.65 equals about 75%, while insulated wire at $1.90 returns only about 31%.

Insulation and Attachments

Insulated wire may appear valuable because copper is visible inside it, but the scale weighs plastic, paper, nylon, connectors, and other non-copper material. A yard must cover sorting, granulation, separation, disposal, and metal losses.

Heavy 500 to 750 MCM cable with bare-bright copper inside was listed near $4.10 per pound. Standard THHN cable was near $3.45. Thin communication cable or mixed household wire may receive far less.

Removing insulation does not always pay. Suppose 100 pounds of cable can be sold intact for $3.45 per pound, producing $345 (about 1.4 full-time workdays at $30 per hour). If the cable contains 75 pounds of copper that qualifies for $5.45, stripping produces $408.75. The gross improvement is $63.75.

If stripping takes eight hours, the extra return is only about $7.97 per hour before tool wear, electricity, cleanup, and material loss. Burning insulation is unsafe, environmentally harmful, and may cause a yard to reject the load.

Retail Copper Costs More

The exchange price covers standardized bulk metal. A manufacturer still has to cast, roll, draw, anneal, cut, test, package, and ship the finished product. A distributor then adds inventory costs and margin.

A current Home Depot category listed 10-foot Type L copper pipe near $6.63 per linear foot. Price per foot cannot be compared directly with copper’s price per pound without knowing pipe diameter, wall thickness, and weight.

Finished electrical wire also includes drawing, insulation, certification, spooling, packaging, and retail distribution. Copper remains widely used in building wiring because of its conductivity and connection performance, as described by the building-wire material guide.

A fabricator buying sheet or bar may also pay cutting charges, minimum-order fees, scrap allowance, freight, and a material markup. Those costs are covered more fully in current metal fabrication pricing.

Three Copper Price Scenarios

Homeowner selling old plumbing tube

A renovation produces 80 pounds of clean No. 1 tubing. At $5.15 per pound, the ticket is $412. Leaving brass valves and soldered fittings attached could move part of the load into a lower grade. A reduction to $4.65 cuts the payment to $372, a difference of $40.

Electrician selling stripped wire

An electrician has 150 pounds of qualifying bare-bright copper. At $5.45 per pound, the load pays $817.50. The same gross weight sold as mixed insulated wire at $1.90 would pay $285. The difference is $532.50, but only when the stripped output still weighs 150 pounds. Real insulation removal lowers sellable weight.

Buyer ordering fabricated copper

A shop needs 200 pounds of cut copper sheet. At a benchmark of $6.18 per pound, the contained metal value is $1,236. A mill premium and distributor markup of $2.25 per pound, $180 cutting charge, and $220 freight produce an invoice of $2,086, or $10.43 per delivered pound.

Exchange Copper Pricing

COMEX copper futures are quoted in cents or dollars per pound. Each standard contract represents 25,000 pounds. A movement of $0.10 per pound changes the contract value by $2,500.

The Micro Copper contract represents 2,500 pounds. It is smaller than the standard contract but still carries market and leverage risk. Neither contract is a simple method for a homeowner to lock in the value of a few hundred pounds of scrap.

The LME quotes copper in U.S. dollars per metric ton and publishes cash and forward reference prices. Buyers converting LME copper to a pound price divide the metric-ton quote by 2,204.62. The converted number may still differ from COMEX because the contracts, warehouses, delivery locations, and regional conditions are different.

The U.S. Geological Survey tracks mine production, refined output, recycling, imports, and consumption through its 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries. These physical supply figures help explain market pressure, but they do not provide a guaranteed short-term forecast.

When the Copper Price Matters

Makes sense to track closely if:

• A scrap load contains enough clean copper for a small price change to alter the ticket.
• A contractor is quoting a large wiring, plumbing, roofing, or fabrication project.
• A manufacturer buys copper under an indexed supply agreement.
• A seller can choose among several licensed yards with different posted rates.

Does not make sense to use exchange price alone if:

• The material is insulated, alloyed, painted, soldered, or attached to steel.
• The purchase is a finished pipe, wire, gutter, sheet, or custom part.
• The load is too small for a yard’s posted premium grade or volume rate.
• The seller cannot document lawful ownership of regulated scrap.

Copper’s commodity value affects products such as copper gutters, but labor, fabrication, hangers, solder, flashing, and installation can outweigh day-to-day metal movement.

What We Verified

• Checked the late-July global reference against the LME copper market page.
• Confirmed the standard U.S. futures contract size of 25,000 pounds through CME product specifications.
• Cross-referenced current bare-bright, No. 1, No. 2, and insulated-wire payouts across three scrap-pricing sources.
• Verified U.S. supply and recycling context through the 2026 USGS copper statistics.
• Confirmed that retail pipe is sold by product dimensions and length rather than the raw exchange pound.

Related Metal and Copper Costs

Copper price movement affects electrical work, but material is only one part of the cost to rewire a mobile home. Labor, access, permits, panels, devices, and wall repairs can be larger expenses.

Commodity buyers can compare copper’s industrial benchmark with the precious-metal mechanics behind the price of a gold bar. Copper and nickel prices also affect the cost to mint a quarter, though a coin’s production expense includes labor, blank preparation, distribution, and Mint operations.

Answers to Common Questions

How much is copper worth per pound today?

The late-July and early-August 2026 exchange value is about $6.18 to $6.51 per pound, depending on the exchange, contract, and timestamp.

How much do scrap yards pay for copper?

Clean bare-bright copper may bring $5.30 to $5.45 per pound. No. 1 and No. 2 grades pay less, while insulated wire can range from below $2 to above $4.

What copper scrap is worth the most?

Clean bare-bright wire usually receives the strongest common yard price. It must be uncoated, unalloyed, free of insulation, and accepted under the yard’s dimensions and preparation rules.

Is copper pipe worth the exchange price?

Not as scrap. A yard grades the pipe and pays a recovery value. New retail pipe costs more than the exchange value because it is manufactured, certified, distributed, and sold in specific dimensions.

Is stripping copper wire profitable?

It can be when the cable has high copper recovery and strips quickly. Compare the intact-wire payout with the lower stripped weight and the hours required before doing the work.