Miscellaneous unalloyed copper wire, min. 94% copper, allowing light tin or oxide. A high-volume feedstock for refineries and brass mills.

ISRI Grade Name: Birch (No. 2 Copper Wire Scrap)

ISRI Description and Specification

Birch is the No. 2 grade of bare copper wire scrap — miscellaneous unalloyed copper wire with a nominal copper content of 96% and a minimum guaranteed copper content of 94% on a clean, dry basis. This grade accommodates wire that does not meet Berry’s strict purity requirements — for example, wire with traces of tin or lead plating (within tolerable limits), lightly oxidised wire, wire with minor oil or moisture contamination within commercial tolerances, or mixed-gauge wire including smaller gauges that do not qualify for Berry. Birch must still be free of heavily leaded or tinned wire, solder-coated material, brass, bronze, armoured cable with significant steel content, excessive oil, iron attachments, insulated wire of any kind, and burnt wire exceeding the tolerance for oxide content.

Commercial Significance and Pricing

Birch is one of the most commercially important copper scrap grades globally due to its breadth of supply — it captures a wide range of wire scrap that cannot qualify as Berry but is still substantially pure copper. The 94% minimum copper guarantee provides a reliable floor for buyer pricing calculations, allowing for straightforward value-in-use analysis. Birch typically trades at a larger discount to LME copper than Berry — commonly $200–$400/MT below cathode equivalent — reflecting the lower copper assay, slightly higher processing costs, and greater quality variability. In India’s copper scrap import market, Birch is one of the highest-volume grades, consumed by copper refineries, brass mills, and secondary copper processors in volume.

Who Uses Birch Scrap

Copper refineries and fire refiners are the primary consumers, using Birch in their anode furnace charge mix. Brass ingot manufacturers also consume significant Birch volumes as a cost-efficient copper input when blending with zinc to produce brass alloys — the 4–6% allowable impurity range in Birch can be accommodated in brass chemistry where the specific impurity profile (primarily minor tin or oxide) does not interfere with the brass specification. Copper rod producers drawing wire for electrical applications may blend Birch with Berry to optimise feedstock cost while maintaining output purity. Secondary copper smelters in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh are among the largest domestic consumers of Birch-grade imported copper scrap in India.