Copper Calculator – Calculate the Material Value of Copper
Material Value · Copper
10.49 £
1,000.00 g × 1 × 0.0105 £/g = 10.49 £
Buy-back price: The amount a dealer or refinery actually pays. This is typically 2–10% below the melt value, as processing costs and margin are deducted.
Copper is traded in tonnes
The world market price of copper is formed on futures exchanges, above all the London Metal Exchange, and is quoted in US dollars per tonne. For everyday use that is an unwieldy unit, which is why this calculator converts into grams, kilograms and tonnes.
The order of magnitude differs fundamentally from precious metals: a kilogram of copper costs about as much as half a gram of gold. A calculation is therefore only worthwhile for substantial quantities — for individual coins or small components, the material value is in the cent range.
The reverse is also true: anyone who collects copper collects volume. Copper has a density of 8.96 g/cm³ and is therefore considerably lighter than gold or platinum; the same mass needs more space.
Why the purchase price is lower
The exchange price applies to refined copper of a defined quality and in quantities traded on the exchange. Scrap copper is neither: it is mixed, coated, painted or joined to other metals, and it comes in small quantities.
A buyer has to sort, test, transport and have it melted down. For that he deducts a margin, and how large it is depends on how pure the grade is — bare copper wire fetches more than mixed cable scrap, and brass is no longer a copper price at all, but a separate material with its own price.
We deliberately give no concrete percentages here. They vary by grade, region and buyer, and a figure we cannot substantiate would be misleading rather than helpful at this point. Ask the buyer about the sorting and the deduction — he should be able to put a figure on both.
Copper as an economic indicator
Copper is found in power grids, motors, buildings and vehicles. Wherever things are built and produced, copper is consumed — which is why financial markets half-jokingly call the metal “Dr. Copper” and read its price as a diagnosis of the world economy.
That makes copper the counterpart of gold. When uncertainty rises, money flows into gold; when industry is running, copper picks up. How far apart the two currently are is shown by the gold/copper ratio, which gives the amount of copper that one troy ounce of gold costs.
As a leading indicator, however, the copper price is only of limited use: strikes, mine outages and stock levels also move it, and these have nothing to do with the economic cycle.