On 28 September 2026 EUWID Recycling reported that another rise on the London Metal Exchange had pushed German copper scrap to new record highs. News service MBI, cited by EUWID, said purchasing prices across the copper scrap grades it covers rose by 20 to 40 euros per 100 kilograms last week. Brass scrap also rose. Gains for red brass, remelted zinc and old zinc were more modest.

That reading sits on a volatile September. EUWID had already recorded a first record print for German copper scrap around 14 September, after LME three-month copper printed above 14,700 dollars a tonne. Reuters recorded an all-time high of 14,875 dollars a tonne on 10 September, then a sharp session reversal when reports circulated that a planned United States tariff on refined copper had stalled. In the week that began 14 September, EUWID said the LME price fell by almost 300 dollars a tonne and MBI recorded a 20-euro cut per 100 kilograms across German copper scrap grades, with smaller cuts on heavy and light brass.

The exchange then recovered. Shanghai Metals Market put the 22 September three-month settle at 14,783 dollars a tonne, about 90 dollars below the 10 September high, after six sessions of gains. Official LME cash settlement on 23 September was 14,735 dollars a tonne. By 30 September SMM described LME copper as consolidating weaker around 14,450 dollars. Last week's German wholesale print is a record that already sits on a softer exchange, so yards should recheck the bid before they load.

German wholesale copper scrap is a recovery market priced off cathode. When three-month copper jumps by several hundred dollars a tonne, the yard bid for clean unalloyed copper usually moves in the same week. MBI's weekly change is the German purchasing price, not a seaborne index and not a walk-in poster. The mid-month dip and the late-month record followed the exchange, not a sudden change in German collection.

Why brass moved with copper but not as one lot

Brass is a copper-zinc alloy. EUWID recorded a rise in brass on 28 September and a smaller cut than copper in the mid-month dip. Brass scrap should stay out of a copper bag. At these levels a mixed yellow-metal parcel is priced as the weakest interpretation: yellow solids (Honey), red brass, radiators and a refinery mix are different products.

A yard that sold clean No. 1 wire (Berry) on the 14 September dip and bought mixed fittings after the 22 September rebound has already seen the working-capital cost of that sequence. A Birch parcel offered as Berry will still be regraded, whatever the LME screenshot shows.

Ferrous HMS and shredded scrap are a different book. Copper in fragmentiser steel is a residual the melt pays less for, not a copper sale. Do not price a German E3 or E40 parcel off last week's copper move.

What Chinese buying does to a European parcel

SMM's 30 September review of secondary copper outside China said LME coefficients for copper scrap outside China edged up this week because Chinese buyers had raised overseas purchase quotes. Tight invoice metal, high cathode premiums and disrupted import cargoes had left the Chinese scrap book short. China's National Day holiday then cut inquiries, so the coefficient support and the physical book are not the same thing this week.

A European seller can read that as a reason to hold a named Berry or Birch parcel rather than give it away on a weak local day. An offer into China still needs the usual OECD and non-OECD checks, a named recovery, and a buyer who can take the container after the holiday. SMM also said trading was mediocre because cathode and scrap payables were already high.

The Commission's 18 September draft waste-import list is a 2027 file. It does not change a copper container loading this week. Treat the draft list as a destination-planning question, not as this week's German wholesale number.

Who it affects this week

Yards should sort copper from brass before the scale. At record wholesale levels the absolute gap between Berry, Birch and a mixed bag is larger than it was in the summer. Theft and cash-out risk rise with the LME; that is an operations issue, not a price forecast. Last week's MBI print is a weekly wholesale change. Recheck the bid before you load.

Traders booking a German ex-works lot and a CFR Asian or Turkish remelt lot are writing different contracts. Do not price one off the other without freight and the payable. If you sold on the mid-month dip and the exchange recovered, the claim is still on grade and recovery, not on the LME screenshot.

For processors and remelters, high cathode makes scrap look cheap on paper and expensive to hold. A named No. 1 wire or No. 1 solids lot is bookable. A mixed "copper scrap" drum is a claim. Mills that melt ferrous are not the offtake for this move.

How to name the lot

Name the preparation the melt already uses: Berry or No. 1 wire, Birch or No. 2 wire, Candy or clean solids, Honey or yellow brass solids, red brass. Add tonnes, packing, city or load point, and whether the sale is ex-works, delivered or FOB. State if the lot is insulated cable, radiators or turnings. Do not write a live price on the listing. How to sell scrap metal still starts with a named grade and a named load point.

Verified companies can place the parcel on live lots or answer a wanted notice. Request access if you sell German or other EU copper and brass or buy for a remelt or chopper.