Need a dated reference? Open LME copper contract and price information, then check the displayed date, currency, price unit and access terms. This page does not supply a live quote. Benchmark, delayed and licensed data are not interchangeable with a dealer's current bid for your item.
This page does not display a current copper quote. It teaches you how to evaluate a dated price from a source you choose. Record the source, contract or product, currency, unit and timestamp before using any number. Start with the static price-source directory.
How to read a copper price
A bare number is incomplete. A usable copper quotation should answer six questions:
- What is priced? Refined copper, a futures contract, cathode delivered to a location, fabricated product or a scrap grade?
- Which unit? Avoirdupois pound, kilogram or metric tonne?
- Which currency? US dollars, euros, pounds sterling or another currency?
- Which price type? Bid, ask, midpoint, cash, settlement, official value or last trade?
- Which time? Is the value current, delayed, end-of-day or an historical close?
- Which delivery basis? What grade, location, date and contract terms apply?
Two reputable sources may show different values at the same moment because they are describing different contracts, timestamps or sides of the market.
Which copper price answers your question?
| Price or value | What it describes | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange reference | A specified refined-metal contract, date and delivery basis | Comparing like-for-like market quotations |
| Fabricated-product price | Wire, tube or sheet including manufacture and distribution | Buying that finished product |
| Scrap buyer rate | A bid for a stated grade, lot and accepted weight | Estimating a particular buyer's gross payment |
| Contained-metal value | Copper-bearing weight × copper fraction × reference price | A calculation before commercial deductions |
| Net seller proceeds | The agreed payment after applicable deductions and seller costs | Comparing what you keep from offers |
A cash quotation concerns prompt delivery under its market rules; a futures quotation concerns a specified contract month. Neither is automatically an executable scrap bid. For example, COMEX copper futures have a 25,000-pound contract size and are quoted per pound. Converting a quote to kilograms changes its unit, not its contract, delivery terms or pricing time.
Copper price conversion formulas
Let P be a copper price per avoirdupois pound. These conversions change only the unit, not the currency or market basis.
| Wanted unit | Formula | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Per ordinary ounce | P ÷ 16 | 16 avoirdupois ounces = 1 lb |
| Per gram | P ÷ 453.59237 | 453.59237 g = 1 lb |
| Per kilogram | P × 2.2046226218 | 2.2046226218 lb = 1 kg |
| Per metric tonne | P × 2,204.6226218 | 2,204.6226218 lb = 1 metric tonne |
To reverse the conversion, divide a price per kilogram by 2.2046226218 or divide a price per metric tonne by 2,204.6226218 to obtain the equivalent price per pound.
Do not substitute a troy ounce. A copper price per ordinary ounce uses 28.349523125 grams. A precious-metal troy ounce uses 31.1034768 grams. The word "ounce" must be qualified.
From a tonne price to 300 grams of copper
Suppose your source quotes $9,000 per metric tonne. This is an invented price for arithmetic, not a current quotation.
| Unit | Equivalent USD price |
|---|---|
| Metric tonne | 9,000 |
| Kilogram | 9 |
| Gram | 0.009 |
| Ordinary pound | 4.08233133 |
At that reference, 300 grams of pure copper = 300 × $0.009 = $2.70 before any buyer deductions. If those 300 grams include insulation, fittings or another metal, the pure-copper calculation does not describe the whole object.
Keep currency, timestamp, grade and quote basis unchanged. Currency conversion is a separate calculation requiring an exchange rate and its date; changing a calculator's currency label does not perform it. Use the copper value calculator for an item's weight and documented copper fraction, or the selling guide for a buyer's actual net offer.
Why scrap copper usually differs from a headline price
A benchmark is a starting reference, not a guaranteed payout. A scrap transaction may account for:
- non-copper material such as insulation, steel fittings, solder or coatings;
- moisture, dirt, mixed grades and sampling uncertainty;
- sorting, baling, granulation, smelting or refining costs;
- freight, minimum lot size and regional demand;
- price risk while material is processed and resold;
- the buyer's operating costs and margin.
Compare the net amount paid, not only the advertised rate. Confirm whether the scale weight is gross or net, which grade was assigned, whether any weight was deducted, and whether the stated rate applies to the whole lot.
How to calculate a copper price change
Percentage change = ((new price - old price) ÷ old price) × 100Use prices with the same currency, unit, quote type and comparable timestamp. A change from a cash quotation to a futures quotation is not a clean time-series comparison.
Copper price questions
Is copper priced by the pound?
It often is in US market coverage and scrap trade, while international industrial quotations commonly use a metric tonne. Always read the unit attached to the source.
Is a tonne the same as a US ton?
No. A metric tonne is 1,000 kilograms or about 2,204.6226 pounds. A US short ton is 2,000 pounds. A UK long ton is 2,240 pounds.
Can I multiply insulated wire weight by the copper price?
Not without accounting for insulation and other non-copper weight. Cable recovery varies by construction. A measured or documented recovery factor is better than guessing from appearance.
Does bare bright always pay the same percentage of a benchmark?
No. Grade specifications, location, volume, buyer demand and market conditions differ. Get actual quotes and confirm the buyer's acceptance rules.