How to Strip Copper Wire for Scrap: A Practical Guide

Every Singapore scrap seller with a pile of copper cable eventually asks: is stripping the PVC off actually worth it? The short answer: sometimes. This post covers the math, the methods, and when to skip it.

The Price Difference

Singapore rates (April 2026):

• Bright copper (stripped): from $9.00/kg
• Copper cable (75% yield, still insulated): from $7.50/kg

So stripping upgrades your copper by roughly $1.50/kg of cable weight. A 10 kg cable spool stripped adds ~$15. 100 kg adds ~$150. Sounds good — until you factor in labour.

Manual Stripping (Knife or Stripper)

For thick cable (anything over 6mm outer diameter), a sharp utility knife and a wire-stripping jig makes quick work. Rate for an experienced hand: 5-10 kg per hour. Thin cable is much slower.

Break-even: if your time is worth more than S$15/hour, manual stripping only pays for thick cable in large quantities.

Machine Stripping

Wire stripping machines (hand-crank or motorized) cost S$200-$1,500 and can process 50-200 kg/hour. Worth it if you regularly clear construction cable scrap. Not worth it for one-off clearances.

When to Skip Stripping

• Very thin cable (<3mm) — time intensive, low gain
• Burned / fire-damaged cable — stripping releases fumes, dealer rates are comparable either way
• Mixed cable types — takes time to sort before stripping
• When you have under ~30 kg total cable — the per-kg gain (~$45) isn’t worth an afternoon

Safety

• Never strip live cable. Obvious, but worth saying.
• Don’t burn off PVC insulation. Illegal in Singapore (NEA air quality regulations), releases toxic dioxins, and dealers will reject fire-damaged copper.
• Wear cut-resistant gloves.

Our Recommendation

For most Singapore sellers, bring cable to us unstripped and take the cable rate. Molten Steel processes cable with industrial equipment — we recover copper efficiently, and you save hours of labour. For regular commercial clients clearing large volumes weekly, investing in a stripping machine pays back in weeks.