We buy and recycle all scrap wire in Singapore — bright copper wire, insulated copper cable, aluminium cable, armoured cable, ring-main, THHN, coaxial, data cable, and enamelled motor winding. Wire is priced on recovered copper or aluminium content after stripping or granulation, not gross weight. Clean, stripped copper always pays the most.

Current Scrap Wire Prices in Singapore

Wire type	Indicative price (SGD/kg)	Copper / Aluminium recovery
Bright copper wire (No. 1, stripped)	$9.00/kg	~100% Cu
Heavy insulated copper cable (16mm²+)	$6.50–$7.50/kg	70–80% Cu recovery
Light insulated copper cable (<16mm²)	$4.50–$5.80/kg	55–65% Cu recovery
SWA armoured cable	$3.50–$5.00/kg	Depends on conductor size
Enamelled motor winding wire	$7.00–$8.00/kg	~95% Cu (graded No. 2)
Tinned copper wire (marine, battery)	$7.00–$7.50/kg	Tin coat discount
Aluminium cable (ACSR, overhead)	$1.40–$1.80/kg	70–85% Al recovery
Coaxial / data / ribbon cable	$2.00–$3.50/kg	Low copper fraction

How Scrap Wire Pricing Works

Wire is priced on recovered metal, not gross weight. A PVC-insulated copper cable is typically 55–80% copper by mass depending on conductor thickness, sheath type, and whether any steel-wire armour is present. The rest is plastic that goes to our granulator and separator. We pay a percentage of the LME copper cash-settlement price equal to the recovery ratio — so a 16 mm² THHN cable with 75% copper recovery pays roughly 75% of the bright copper rate.

Thicker conductors = higher recovery = higher rate. The steepest premium jump is between thin instrumentation cable (~55%) and heavy power cable (~80%), which is why it often pays to keep your cable bundles segregated by size. For a deeper grade-by-grade breakdown see our copper wire types guide and colour codes reference.

Scrap Wire Recycling in Singapore — What We Actually Do

At our Gul Circle yard, recovered wire runs through three routes:

• Manual or rotary stripping — for thick, clean, single-conductor cable (16 mm² and up). Recovers the conductor intact as bright No. 1 copper, which is sold at the top rate to downstream smelters.
• Granulation — for mixed, thin, or multi-core cable where stripping is uneconomic. The granulator chops the cable into small pieces, then air-gravity and eddy-current separators split copper pellets from plastic. We recover 99%+ of the copper.
• Baling + direct shipment — for oversize, armoured, or specialty cable that needs industrial-scale processing. Baled loads ship to partner smelters in Malaysia and Thailand.

Because we own the granulator, we capture the yield margin in-house and pass that back in our per-kg rates. Yards without their own processing have to sell cable to a bigger processor first, which explains the gap you see when you cross-quote.

Wire Types We Buy Most Often

• Electrical renovation wire: THHN, ring-main, distribution cable pulled from HDB upgrading, condo MEP refits, commercial fit-outs.
• Construction cable: temporary power cables, SWA armoured underground cable, site lighting and distribution runs.
• Telecom / data: jelly-filled telephone cable from PSTN decommission, Cat5e/6 from office strip-outs, fibre-migrated copper backbone.
• Industrial / motor: enamelled winding wire from motor rewind shops, old busbar, submarine-grade tinned cable from marine contractors.
• HVAC refrigerant pipe (copper tube): 1/4", 3/8", 5/8" ACR copper — technically not "wire" but routed through the same recycling line.
• Aluminium cable: ACSR (steel-core aluminium) overhead conductor, aluminium busbar, aluminium power cable.

Getting the Best Price for Your Scrap Wire

1. Strip what’s worth stripping. Thick single-core cable (16 mm²+) usually pays back the stripping time. Thin control or armoured cable does not — let us granulate it. See our wire stripping guide.
2. Separate copper from aluminium. A mixed load gets priced at the lower metal’s rate on the whole bundle. 15 minutes of sorting can lift a mixed $2/kg load to a split $7/kg copper + $1.50/kg aluminium.
3. Separate heavy from light cable. Heavy gauge recovers more copper per kilogram so it commands a higher per-kg rate. Mixing loses you 10–15%.
4. Never burn insulation. Open burning is illegal under NEA rules and burnt copper is downgraded for surface oxide — you lose on both counts.
5. Remove any steel attachments — plugs, terminal blocks, lugs, cable cleats. Pulls the grade from copper-with-attachments down to braziery.

Scrap Wire Collection for Electrical Contractors

We run scheduled cable pickups for Singapore electrical contractors, MEP firms, and renovation specialists. Typical arrangement: you fill wheelie bins or skip cages on site, we collect on call or on a weekly rotation, weigh on arrival, and settle monthly against a single invoice. Volumes over a tonne per month qualify for a premium rate sheet and faster dispatch. See our electrical contractor scrap page for the full offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the scrap wire price in Singapore today?

Bright stripped copper wire currently pays around $9.00/kg. Insulated copper cable pays $4.50–$7.50/kg depending on gauge and sheath type. Aluminium cable pays around $1.40–$1.80/kg. Call +65 9106 7577 for today’s firm quote.

Is it worth stripping my own copper wire before selling?

Yes for heavy gauge (16 mm² and up) — a rotary stripper moves you from cable rate to bright. No for thin control cable, Cat5/6, or armoured cable — our granulator recovers more than you will with a stripper. See our stripping guide.

Do you buy aluminium cable as well as copper?

Yes — ACSR overhead conductor, aluminium busbar, aluminium power cable. Prices are lower than copper in absolute terms but volume is often high (aluminium runs lighter per metre). Keep it separate from copper.

Can I sell burnt copper wire?

Yes, but at a discount. Burning creates surface oxide that costs extra at the smelter, and on-site burning is illegal in Singapore under NEA regulations. Mechanically strip or bring it intact insulated.

Do you collect scrap cable from construction or electrical sites?

Yes — free pickup across Singapore for qualifying loads. We supply skips or bins for regular generators. See our collection service.

What’s the difference between cable rate and bright copper rate?

Bright copper is the bare, stripped conductor — 100% recovered weight. Cable is insulated — we pay on recovered copper after stripping or granulation, typically 55–80% of bright rate depending on sheath and conductor size.