What's the price difference between aluminium cans, extrusions, and cast aluminium?
Short answer: Extrusions (window and door frames) usually pay the most because they are a consistent, low-silicon alloy smelters can remelt with little processing. Cans (UBC) sit in the middle — a known alloy, but thin-gauge and coated, so more is lost to oxidation on remelt. Cast aluminium (engine blocks, pot metal) pays the least because it is a higher-silicon, mixed alloy that can't go straight back into high-spec products.
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List Free →Why the gap is so large
Aluminium scrap is priced on how close it is to something a smelter can remelt and sell again with minimal extra processing. Extrusions — window frames, door frames, gutter, box section — are almost always a single well-known alloy (commonly the 6xxx series used for architectural aluminium). It’s low in silicon, arrives in predictable shapes, and can often go straight back into extrusion billet. That makes it the benchmark grade most yards quote against.
Cast aluminium is a different story. Engine blocks, gearbox housings, and general “pot metal” castings use higher-silicon alloys designed for pouring into a mould, not for strength-to-weight efficiency. Those alloys can’t simply be remelted into extrusion or sheet stock — they’re usually downgraded into lower-spec secondary ingot. That lower end-use value is why cast consistently sits at the bottom of the aluminium price ladder.
Where cans actually fit
Used beverage cans (UBC) are a well-defined, globally traded alloy family, so buyers know exactly what they’re getting — which is why cans usually price better than mixed cast. But cans are thin-gauge and have a painted/lacquered coating on both sides. When you remelt thin, coated aluminium, more of it oxidises and burns off into dross before it ever becomes usable metal, compared to a thick, bare extrusion. Yards price that yield loss into what they pay you.
What this means when you’re selling
If you’ve got a mixed load of extrusion offcuts, cans, and old cast parts, ask the buyer whether they’re pricing it as one blended “aluminium” rate or by category. Separating extrusion from cans from cast — even roughly — is usually worth the ten minutes it takes, because a blended price tends to default toward the lowest-value component in the mix.
How ScrapTrade Makes This Easier
This is exactly why ScrapTrade lets you tag a listing by category — cans, extrusion, or cast — instead of lumping everything into one generic “aluminium” listing. Buyers see the breakdown before they bid, so you’re not stuck with a blended price that defaults to your lowest-value material.
Ready to sell or source aluminium scrap without the guesswork? ScrapTrade connects verified buyers and sellers with escrow-protected payments and transparent weighing.
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