Primary Aluminium
Primary aluminium is metal produced directly from alumina by electrolysis in a smelter, sold as high-purity ingots, sows, billets and wire rod.
Aluminium guide Alloys, scrap grades, specifications, processing and trade terms explained
Short, plain-language explanations of the terms used when buying and selling aluminium in India.
Materials & alloys
Secondary Aluminium
Secondary aluminium is metal recovered by remelting scrap and dross, then refined and alloyed into ingots, mainly casting alloys such as ADC12 and LM6.
P1020
P1020 is the standard primary aluminium grade with minimum 99.70% Al, silicon up to 0.10% and iron up to 0.20%, the basis of LME aluminium contracts.
Alloy Designation System
The four-digit alloy designation system groups wrought aluminium alloys by main alloying element, from 1xxx pure aluminium to 8xxx alloys such as 8011.
Temper Designation
Temper designations such as O, H14, H32, T5 and T6 describe how an aluminium alloy has been annealed, strain hardened or heat treated after forming.
ADC12
ADC12 is a Japanese-standard aluminium-silicon-copper die casting alloy, the most common secondary ingot used for pressure die cast parts in India.
LM6
LM6 is a near-eutectic aluminium-silicon casting alloy with about 10-13% silicon and very low copper, valued for fluidity and corrosion resistance.
LM25 / A356
LM25 and A356 are heat-treatable Al-Si7-Mg casting alloys used for strong, ductile gravity and low-pressure castings such as alloy wheels.
6063 Alloy
6063 is the standard aluminium-magnesium-silicon extrusion alloy, prized for its smooth surface and anodising response in windows, doors and frames.
6061 Alloy
6061 is a heat-treatable Al-Mg-Si-Cu alloy with higher strength than 6063, used for structural extrusions, plate, machined parts and fittings.
5052 Alloy
5052 is a non-heat-treatable aluminium-magnesium sheet alloy with good strength, formability and corrosion resistance, commonly supplied as 5052-H32.
3003 Alloy
3003 is an aluminium-manganese wrought alloy, about 20% stronger than pure aluminium, used for roofing, utensils, heat exchangers and general sheet.
1050 Alloy
1050 is commercially pure aluminium with at least 99.5% Al, offering high conductivity, formability and corrosion resistance but low strength.
8011 Alloy
8011 is an aluminium-iron-silicon wrought alloy widely used for household, pharma and container foil, bottle closures and fin stock.
EC Grade Aluminium
EC grade aluminium, broadly the 1350 alloy, is high-purity aluminium with about 61-62% IACS conductivity, used for wire rod, conductors and bus bars.
Master Alloys
Master alloys are concentrated aluminium alloys such as AlTi5B1, AlSr10 and AlMn20 added to melts to adjust chemistry, refine grain or modify structure.
Grain Refiner
A grain refiner, usually AlTi5B1 or AlTi3B1 master alloy, adds nuclei to molten aluminium so it solidifies with fine, uniform grains.
Testing & specifications
Spectro Analysis
Spectro analysis uses an optical emission spectrometer to measure the elements in an aluminium sample within minutes, producing the spectro report buyers rely on.
Chemical Composition
Chemical composition is the percentage of aluminium and each alloying or impurity element in a material, checked against the limits of the specified grade.
Recovery / Yield
Recovery or yield is the percentage of usable molten aluminium obtained when scrap or dross is melted, the key number that sets scrap value.
Mill Test Certificate
A mill test certificate (MTC) is the producer document stating the chemical composition, mechanical properties and identity of a supplied aluminium lot.
Conductivity (% IACS)
Electrical conductivity of aluminium is expressed as % IACS, where 100% equals annealed copper; EC grade aluminium is around 61-62% IACS.
Tensile Strength
Tensile strength is the maximum stress aluminium withstands when pulled before breaking, reported with yield strength and elongation in MPa and %.
Contamination
Contamination is any non-aluminium material in scrap, such as iron, plastic, rubber, dirt, oil or moisture, that cuts recovery and can make melting unsafe.
Homogenisation
Homogenisation is a high-temperature soak of cast billets or slabs that evens out chemistry and microstructure so they extrude or roll cleanly.
Scrap grades
ISRI Specifications
ISRI specifications are internationally used scrap trading codes, such as Taint/Tabor, Tense and Zorba, that define each aluminium scrap grade.
UBC (Used Beverage Cans)
UBC is scrap from used aluminium beverage cans, traded loose, shredded or baled under ISRI codes Taldon, Talcred and Taldack.
Taint/Tabor
Taint/Tabor is the ISRI grade for clean mixed old aluminium alloy sheet of two or more alloys, free of foil, coatings, plastic and iron.
Tense
Tense is the ISRI grade for mixed aluminium castings, such as engine parts and housings, free of iron, dirt, brass, bushings and non-metallic items.
Zorba
Zorba is the ISRI grade for shredded mixed non-ferrous scrap, mainly aluminium, recovered from shredded vehicles and appliances by eddy current separation.
Borings and Turnings
Borings and turnings are aluminium chips from machining, traded as Teens (segregated) or Telic (mixed); oil and moisture make yield and safety key concerns.
Extrusion Scrap
Extrusion scrap is 6063 or 6061 profile offcuts and old sections; clean, unpainted, single-alloy lots are among the most valuable aluminium scrap.
Aluminium Dross
Aluminium dross is the oxide-rich layer skimmed from molten aluminium; white dross carries more recoverable metal than black dross or salt cake.
Processing
Die Casting
Die casting injects molten aluminium alloy into a steel die at high pressure to make precise, thin-walled parts in large volumes.
Gravity Casting
Gravity casting pours molten aluminium into a permanent metal mould or sand mould without applied pressure, suiting sound, heat-treatable castings.
Extrusion
Extrusion pushes a heated aluminium billet through a shaped steel die to produce long profiles such as window sections, tubes, bars and heat sinks.
Rolling
Rolling reduces aluminium slab or cast strip between rolls into plate, sheet, coil and foil, with hot rolling followed by cold rolling and annealing.
Anodising
Anodising is an electrochemical process that thickens the natural oxide layer on aluminium, improving corrosion and wear resistance and allowing colour.
Powder Coating
Powder coating applies a dry electrostatically charged paint powder to pretreated aluminium and cures it in an oven into a durable coloured finish.
Deoxidation
Deoxidation in steelmaking uses aluminium notch bars, shots, cubes or wire to remove dissolved oxygen from molten steel, producing aluminium-killed steel.
Remelting
Remelting is melting aluminium scrap, ingot or dross in a furnace, then cleaning and alloying the melt before casting it into new ingots or billets.
Trade & compliance
LME Aluminium
LME aluminium is the London Metal Exchange contract for primary aluminium, whose price is the global reference for aluminium pricing, including in India.
HSN Code
HSN codes classify goods for GST and customs; aluminium and its articles fall under Chapter 76, from 7601 unwrought metal to 7614 stranded wire.
E-way Bill
An e-way bill is the electronic GST document generated before moving goods above the notified value, needed for every aluminium and scrap consignment.
CBAM
CBAM is the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which requires importers of aluminium and other covered goods to report and pay for embedded emissions.
Green Aluminium
Green aluminium is a market term for aluminium made with lower carbon emissions, from renewable-powered smelting or high recycled content.
BIS Quality Control Order
A BIS Quality Control Order makes BIS certification mandatory for notified products, including certain aluminium products, before sale or import in India.
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