Water Treatment Coagulants: Aluminium Sulphate, PAC, Ferric Chloride & Ferrous Sulphate

Alum 17% Al₂O₃, PAC 28–30%, ferric chloride 40% and ferrous sulphate for utilities, ETPs and paper mills

Coagulants are bought on the metal-oxide content and the form, because the buyer doses on active aluminium or iron and pays freight on everything else. Aluminium sulphate (alum, HS 2833.22) is the oldest: solid alum in kibbled, ground or slab form at about 17% Al₂O₃ (the "17% alum" of utility tenders), or a liquid at about 8% Al₂O₃, specified for drinking water to EN 878 in Europe with limits on iron, insolubles and heavy metals. Poly aluminium chloride (PAC, HS 2827.32) is the pre-hydrolysed form: powder at 28–30% Al₂O₃ and a basicity of roughly 40–90%, or liquid at about 10% Al₂O₃, made to EN 883 for drinking water. Higher basicity means less pH depression and better cold-water floc, and published comparisons put one kilogram of PAC in place of three to four kilograms of alum, which is why utilities and paper mills convert when the freight leg is long. Drinking-water PAC (30%) is normally the spray-dried white or cream grade; the yellow 28% roller-dried grade goes to industrial effluent. Ferric chloride (HS 2827.39) is sold as a 40% solution, UN 2582 class 8 packing group III, and is the coagulant of choice for phosphate removal, sulphide control and sludge conditioning; ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (HS 2833.29), largely a by-product of titanium-dioxide and steel-pickling plants, is the cheap iron coagulant for effluent and the feedstock for ferric sulphate. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2833.22 total about USD 122 million: Türkiye USD 24 million and 122,000 MT, China USD 17 million and 95,000 MT, Sweden USD 11 million and 40,000 MT, Indonesia USD 6.5 million and 30,000 MT, Spain USD 6.4 million, Slovenia USD 5.1 million, Germany USD 5.0 million, India USD 5.0 million and Kenya USD 3.7 million. Under HS 2827.32 (aluminium chlorides, where PAC declares) the total is about USD 253 million: India USD 54 million and 104,000 MT, the USA USD 48 million, Germany USD 31 million and 57,000 MT, Spain USD 15 million and 39,000 MT, Austria USD 12 million, the Netherlands USD 11 million, Denmark USD 8.9 million, Indonesia USD 7.7 million, Sweden USD 6.8 million and China USD 5.5 million. Those are declared values, not offers.

The buyer is a municipal water or wastewater utility, a textile or tannery effluent treatment plant, a paper mill (alum and PAC for sizing and retention as well as effluent), a sugar refinery, a food plant, a mine or a chemical distributor serving all of them. Utilities buy on an annual contract against a drinking-water standard and want the producer's plant named on the certificate; ETPs buy the cheapest active aluminium or iron that meets their jar test. Documents are the certificate of analysis (COA) with Al₂O₃ or Fe content, basicity, insolubles and heavy metals, the safety data sheet (SDS), a certificate of origin, the dangerous-goods declaration for ferric chloride, REACH registration cover for EU imports and, for potable use, NSF/ANSI 60 or EN 878/EN 883 conformity where the destination requires it. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers alum, PAC, ferric chloride and ferrous sulphate from Chinese, Indian, Turkish and Egyptian producers and trader positions: alum and PAC powder in 25 kg bags and 1 MT jumbo bags, PAC liquid and ferric chloride in IBCs, ISO tanks or flexitanks rated for corrosives, ferrous sulphate in 1 MT jumbo bags or bulk, on FOB, CFR, CIF and DAP terms. Price is per MT and depends on active content, form and pack; minimum quantities are confirmed per product and pack. Send the product, Al₂O₃ or Fe content, basicity, form, potable or effluent use, monthly tonnage and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

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Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.