Cuivre Cu29

The benchmark of the copper market. Millberry is the trade name for No.1 bare bright copper wire: clean, untinned, uncoated and unalloyed bright wire of minimum 99.9% copper, free of insulation, oxidation, burnt wire and any foreign attachments. Recovered from stripped power cable and busbar, it commands the highest price of any copper grade.

Berry is clean, unalloyed and uncoated No.1 copper wire, free of foreign attachments. Unlike bare bright it may carry light oxidation and varying gauges, but must remain free of brittle burnt wire, excessively leaded or tinned wire and insulation residue.

Birch is No.2 copper wire: unalloyed wire that may be coated, tinned, soldered or oxidised, with a nominal 96% Cu content (minimum 94%). It typically includes burnt wire from cable recovery and must be free of excessive insulation, iron and non-metallics. The workhorse grade of the wire market.

Candy is No.1 heavy melting copper: clean, unalloyed copper solids, clippings, punchings, bus bars, commutator segments and clean copper tubing, minimum 1/16 inch thick and free of burnt or coated material. Clean tube must be free of fittings, solder joints and internal deposits.

Cliff covers No.2 copper solids and tubing: miscellaneous unalloyed copper running approximately 94-96% Cu. Shipments may include soldered, painted or coated copper, light-gauge sheet, gutters, boilers and burnt copper, but must be free of excessive non-metallics, iron and heavily leaded material.

Dream is light copper: sheet copper, gutters, downspouts, kettles, boilers and similar thin-gauge material of minimum 92% copper. It carries more surface oxidation and coatings than heavier grades and is priced accordingly, but must stay free of excessive non-metallics and heavily contaminated pieces.

Clove is No.1 copper wire nodules (chops) produced by granulating clean No.1 cable: minimum 99% copper, free of tin, solder, aluminium and steel. Modern granulation plants produce Clove-quality chops that flow, sample and melt with the consistency refiners prize.

Cobra is No.2 copper wire nodules: granulated chops with a nominal 96-97% Cu, permitting tinned and coated wire in the infeed. A cost-effective refinery feed where small, controlled levels of tin and solder are acceptable.

Cocoa covers copper wire nodules below Cobra specification: granulated chops carrying higher levels of tin, coatings or residual insulation. Traded on assayed copper yield, it is a value feed for secondary refiners equipped to handle the contamination.

Druid covers insulated copper wire and cable, from high-recovery single-strand power cable to mixed low-grade household ICW. Priced on recovery percentage, it is assessed by cable type, insulation ratio and copper yield.

The cable that comes out of houses: twin and earth, domestic mains and lighting circuits, in PVC with a bare earth core. The most common cable arising in the UK and the one most often offered to us. Bought insulated — recovery is established by strip test rather than estimated by eye.

Heavy single-core power cable, welding lead and stranded flexible cable with a high conductor-to-insulation ratio. The best-paying insulated grade, because there is more copper and less to strip. Typically arises from industrial installation, plant and site work.

Three-core flex, extension leads, appliance cable and kettle leads. Thinner stranded conductors inside a heavier sheath, so the recovery is lower than household cable. Plugs and moulded ends are accepted but are dead weight and are accounted for in the assessment.

Steel wire armoured cable from industrial and underground installation. The steel armour is a significant part of the weight and none of the value, so recovery varies widely with core count and armour gauge. Declare it as armoured — mixed into household cable it drags the whole load down.

CAT5, CAT6, telephone, alarm and network cable. Very fine conductors in a proportionally heavy sheath, so recovery is the lowest of any cable grade. A material share of what is offered as data cable is copper-clad aluminium rather than copper, which is why this grade is always tested before it is priced.

Drove is copper-bearing scrap: miscellaneous material carrying recoverable copper such as skimmings, grindings, residues, irony brass and copper, ashes and slags. It is sampled and traded strictly on recovered copper units.

Ocean is mixed unsweated copper-brass automotive radiators: the copper cores and brass tanks recovered from vehicle cooling systems. A dual-value grade priced on both its copper and brass content, traded to processors set up to separate and sweat the material.

Talk is the ISRI code word for aluminium-copper radiators: aluminium fins on copper tubing, recovered from automotive air-conditioning condensers and heat exchangers. Shipments must be clean and free of brass tubing, iron and other foreign material, and are priced on their combined copper and aluminium value.

Refined copper cathode to LME Grade A / BS EN 1978 Cu-CATH-1, minimum 99.99% copper. The primary feedstock for wire rod and high-conductivity applications, supplied full-plate or cut, with certificates of analysis.

Secondary and fire-refined copper ingot for foundries and alloy producers, cast to agreed analysis and piece weight. A convenient charge form where cathode is not required, with composition confirmed by certificate.

8 mm oxygen-free / ETP copper wire rod, continuous cast and rolled to ASTM B49, minimum 99.9% copper. The starting stock for wire drawing and cable manufacture, supplied in coils to agreed conductivity and surface specification.