How much does Aluminum Extrusion Cost
When you are struggling with aluminum extrusion prices for your construction project and don’t have enough budget that meets your needs. Predicting its price is usually the right choice. But how much do aluminum extrusions cost? How should we predict its market price?
In this article, we will go though some of the factors that affect the cost of aluminum extrusions so that you are better prepared for how aluminum products can affect your budget. Whether you need a specific aluminum profile, a different aluminum alloy grade or a special finish.
Learning more about aluminum extrusion costs can all help you manage your construction project budget and control costs.
Components of aluminum extrusion prices:
First of all, we first understand the factors affecting the price include: die and tools fee (aluminum profile mold cost will be apportioned to the mass production of profile products within. Generally reach more than 10 tons can be free to open the mold)
Aluminum current prices (can refer to the London ingot prices on the same day), labor costs and processing fees, surface finishing cost，Logistics Costs, and so on. The ingot price is determined by the current market. Labor costs and packaging costs enterprises have a certain margin of adjustment, transportation costs are basically fixed expenses.
Main Factors affect aluminum profiles price:
- Aluminum current price
- Extrusion Die cost
- Labor cost
- Further processing cost
- Aluminum finish cost
- Logistics cost
- production volume
Aluminum extrusion price calculation formula:
Die costs (large quantities can be ignored) + current aluminum prices +Labor cost + production costs + finish costs （can +other Further processing costs if project needed）+ shipping cost to your location = aluminum extrusion final price
The above is a common formula for calculating the price of aluminum extrusion, many of the key factors are enterprises can be flexible according to the current state of operations and the market industry adjustments.
Such as: labor costs (processing fees), packaging costs and die costs; if belong to the long-term order or order quantity to reach the required number, die costs can be ignored.
Note: Aluminum profile mold cost based on profile specifications, mold structure simplicity, mold specifications and production complexity and other factors, aluminum extrusion Die cost price is usually between $ 400-7000, but the mold cost will be reduced with the increase in the quantities of profiles to reach a certain order quantity after the return of the mold cost.
1. Cureent aluminum price:
The price of primary aluminum is influenced by many factors such as global demand, industry trends and the cost of electricity. The base price of aluminum can be estimated through exchanges such as the London Metal Exchange Aluminum Valuation.
As the cost of aluminum has fluctuated dramatically in recent years, it sometimes makes sense to pay a large deposit at once to lock in a lower price.With the average price of aluminum ingots at $2,500 – $3,000 per tonne in 2019-2020 year, and ingot prices topping out at $3,080 per tonne in 2020, ordering aluminum at a lower price will save a portion of your budget.
It is important to note that different grades of aluminum may have different costs, and manufacturers may not order certain special grades of aluminum. For example, 6082 or 7075 grades of aluminum will increase the cost if you choose these.
Why does the price of aluminum fluctuate?
Aluminum material costs can be affected by wars or political factors in the world. For example, the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2023, because both Russia and Ukraine are aluminum producers. The war will cause mining to stop causing prices to rise. In addition to this, stricter environmental protection in the U.S. has restricted operations in the electrolytic aluminum industry, which has also led to higher aluminum prices.
2. How much are extrusion Die cost？
The cost range of our common aluminum extrusion dies is typically between $400-2000. The diameters of these extrusion dies are generally between 60-178mm, which is relatively reasonably priced because of the small size. However, when the outer diameter exceeds 200mm, it will cost at least $2300-10000, depending on the complexity of the aluminum profile.
If you’ve already paid for the mold to be made, then it’s typical lead time will be 2-3 weeks. If you choose to purchase in large quantities generally speaking, the aluminum extrusion factory will refund the cost of die manufacturing to you (this quantity is generally greater than 15 tons).
What factors affect the cost of extrusion dies?
- Types of extrusion dies: Flat die or shunt die
- Size of aluminum extrusion
- Complexity of profile cross-section
- Precision requirements for aluminum extrusions
- Lead time
3. Price of labor and Production:
Compared to complex mold prices and volatile raw material prices. The cost of labor and processing is easy to predict because we can directly refer to local wage levels.
Factors that may affect the cost of processing are included:
- Equipment purchase price
- Maintenance costs
- Utilities
- Personnel operating costs
- Worker productivity
Although labor costs in Europe and America are much higher than in Asia and Africa, the level of production and the degree of product quality are also important to consider. It is a waste of time and useless when we spend lower price to buy substandard aluminum extrusions.
Therefore, choosing an aluminum extrusion manufacturer with reliable quality and lower labor cost can get a very good price – Hugh Aluminum is a Chinese manufacturer that strictly adheres to ISO 9001 quality management system. We offer affordable and high quality aluminum extrusion products!
4. Aluminum finishing and further processing costs:
When the extrusion process is complete, we can apply surface finishing and other further processing to the extruded part. These additional processes can improve the appearance, enhance protection, or enable more functionality to the product. Some of our common machining processes are:
Surface finishing processes for aluminum extrusion are:
- Powder coating
- Anodizing coatings
- Anodized Electrophoretic Coating
- PVDF
- Polished or mill finish
- Wood grain
What will the surface finishing cost?
Powder coating is the most common aluminum coating finish, and its price will be between $1300-1800 per ton. Anodizing is cheaper and can cost between $800-1400 per ton. There are more expensive processes such as PVDF or woodgrain finishes, which are even more than $2700 per ton. The exact cost will need to be adjusted depending on the size of the aluminum extrusion you are working with.
Aluminum extrusion deep processing including these:
- CNC Machining
- Drilling
- Stamping
- Welding
- Bending
- Cutting
- Tempering or aging
What is the cost of deep processing?
Prices vary depending on the complexity of the process and the equipment required. Simple drilling operations can be in the range of $200-$300 per ton. For complex welding and CNC machining that requires high precision, it will cost between $900-$2,100 per ton.
Below video shows the aluminum extrusion process
5. Logistics Pricing and Tax
The price of logistics has a very strong impact on calculating the cost of aluminum extrusion, as the new crown epidemic has made people realize that rising logistics costs can also be deadly. At the height of the epidemic, the price of a container and transportation costs were even higher than a BMW in 2021, and these are costs that consumers will eventually have to deal with.
Therefore, we need to understand these costs more fully. First, shorter lead times and lower production costs in Asia will be worth it for many importers. For example, in 2023, shipping a 40HQ container from Asia to North America costs between $7,600-$14,300. The cost of containers is influenced by the shipping company’s routes and distances, and we need to choose the lowest priced container to avoid wasting the project budget.
Additionally, local tariffs on imported products may increase the cost of shipping products from abroad to your market. （For example, U.S. trade tariffs against China）These additional costs may require you to look up on government websites and only securing lower tariffs will keep your project profitable.
Other factors can affect price:
Due to the fierce competition in the market, many aluminum extrusion manufacturers in order to reduce production costs, enhance product competitiveness, the profile production process has been adjusted, and the factors affecting the price of aluminum profiles also increased.
This contains the choice of raw materials and production processes in two major aspects, raw materials can be selected for the second melting and casting of aluminum ingots, which can reduce the cost of raw materials, thus affecting the price of extruded profiles cost. In the production process can reduce the production process (such as: sandblasting process), can also reduce the profile production costs.
Through the above introduction we understand the way to calculate the price of extruded aluminum, as well as the factors affecting the price, then we can calculate the actual price through the way.
Example: aluminum ingot price of 6500 U.S. dollars / ton, processing fees (labor costs, finishing fee, equipment losses) totaling 4000 U.S. dollars, die set up costs of 2000 U.S. dollars, packaging costs are included in the overall weight of aluminum profiles (according to the assumption of a ton), then the price of a ton of aluminum profiles is calculated as follows:
6500 (aluminum material cost) +4000 (processing fee) +2000 (extrusion die) = 12500 / ton (freight calculated according to the actual situation)
Choose a lower priced aluminum extrusion!
The total price of manufacturing custom aluminum extrusions depends on a variety of factors. Some of these factors are predictable, such as tooling prices and labor costs, while others are more difficult to predict, such as shipping costs.
Hugh Aluminum offers more reasonably priced aluminum extrusions and aluminum profiles to you! Nice prices to help you capture your local market quickly! Please don’t hesitate to contact our team, our aluminum extrusion experts can help you from design to manufacturing!
