Our History

With over 30 years in the scrap metal recycling business, Metalcorp NZ Ltd is leading the way! We were first to publicly list our buy prices online and first to install dedicated scrap purchasing software - two examples of our adaptability and desire to better serve our customers. We could go on, but we don’t like to brag –we’d prefer to show you how hard our team can work to make your metal recycling experience the best it can be.

So, if you’re visiting our site to sell or buy scrap metal, check out our other pages, if however you’d like to know more about the company history then please read on...

Metalcorp NZ Ltd was established in 1989 and originally traded under the name South Island Metal Recoveries. Set up by husband and wife team Trevor and Anni Munro in an empty paddock in Parkhouse Road (where United Fisheries now resides), the beginnings were pretty basic – one old Bedford truck helped them offer a collection service and an old ice cream truck became their first ‘office’. Hard work and a willingness to take on just about anything saw the business grow rapidly and a move to a bigger site was soon required (that and the fact that Parkhouse Road had become too ritzy for a scrap metal yard!).

In 1992 their current home on Halswell Junction Road was purchased and they moved onto a large site mostly absent of any neighbours. Today this site is home to an array of processing equipment, including a ferrous shredder, however at the time the company moved in, a lot of the processing was done by hand.

Over the past 35 years the Munro family has worked hard alongside their staff to build the business, and the company now has a second yard located in Ashburton. The location of the second yard meant that the company was able to expand its services through the Canterbury regions, extending as far South as Timaru.

Nowadays Trevor and Anni’s daughters also work in the business, having earned their stripes working in various roles during their school holidays and university breaks. In 2022, they were joined by the eldest grandson who joined the team as an onsite Engineer (after gaining his full qualification at just 20 years old!). The youngest grandson is also heavily involved in the business working as Supervisor for one of the divisions in Christchurch, having worked his way up the chain the old-fashioned way - through hard work and leadership. With three generations actively in the mix, Metalcorp NZ Ltd truly is a family business.

Pictured above: Anni & Trevor Munro, company founders (early 1990's)