The collected scrap copper and iron will always be sold. If you can't get a good price and are worried about falling prices, you can consider shorting futures to preserve your value. Once the scrap copper is sold, it is necessary to buy closed futures.
note:
The number of short positions in futures should be equal to the spot on hand (that is, physical objects). For example, futures 1 hand is 5 tons of copper, and when 1 hand is short, there are at least 5 tons of physical objects in hand.