Aluminium Hydroxide (ATH) — Flame-Retardant & Feedstock Grades

Bayer-process aluminium trihydrate as halogen-free flame-retardant filler and as chemical feedstock, by particle size and purity

Aluminium hydroxide is the white crystalline trihydrate precipitated from the Bayer process before calcination to alumina, and it is traded as two different products under one customs code. The flame-retardant grades work because ATH decomposes endothermically at about 200–220 °C into alumina and water vapour, absorbing roughly 280 cal/g and diluting the flammable gases, which is why it is the largest-volume halogen-free flame retardant in low-smoke cable compounds, SMC/BMC and other thermoset composites, solid-surface and cast-polymer kitchen and bathroom surfaces, carpet backing, and rubber and adhesive formulations. Those grades are specified on median particle size (D50): the commercial range runs from about 0.5 to 80 µm, and fine precipitated grades around 1–3 µm give the best surface finish and mechanical properties in cable compounds, while ground grades around 10–20 µm cut viscosity and cost in solid surface and BMC; producers also sell viscosity-optimised and surface-treated (silane, stearate) grades for higher loadings and hydrophobic behaviour. Brightness and whiteness, oil absorption, specific surface, soda content and electrical conductivity of the water extract complete the data sheet for cable buyers. The feedstock grade is the coarse, dried hydrate sold from the refinery to makers of aluminium sulphate, polyaluminium chloride and sodium aluminate for water treatment, zeolites for detergents, aluminium fluoride for smelters, activated alumina and calcined speciality aluminas; it is bought on Al₂O₃ content, moisture, soda and iron.

UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2818.30 total about USD 1.77 billion and 3.59 million MT across reporters. Germany leads by value at USD 376 million and 510,000 MT (about USD 739/MT declared, reflecting its speciality flame-retardant producers), Brazil by volume at 1.02 million MT of refinery hydrate at about USD 254/MT, then China (355,000 MT, about USD 612/MT), the USA (110,000 MT, about USD 1,856/MT), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Australia, Greece and Spain, with India declaring 65,000 MT at about USD 496/MT. The gap between USD 250 and USD 1,850 a tonne is the difference between coarse feedstock and fine, treated flame-retardant grades. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers ATH from refineries and speciality processors in China, India, Germany and the USA to cable compounders, composite and solid-surface makers, rubber and adhesive formulators and to chemical producers buying feedstock, against the producer's certificate of analysis (Al(OH)₃ or Al₂O₃ content, D50 and particle-size distribution, moisture, soda, iron, whiteness, oil absorption and surface treatment as applicable), a safety data sheet and a certificate of origin, in 25 kg bags on pallets or 1 MT jumbo bags in 20-ft containers, and in bulk for feedstock parcels, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. HS 2818 is not on the EU CBAM Annex I list, which covers unwrought aluminium and aluminium products under Chapter 76. Price is agreed per MT on grade, particle size and pack. Send the application, the D50 and treatment you formulate with or the feedstock purity you need, 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.