Aluminium Cable & ACSR Scrap

Bare EC wire, insulated aluminium cable and ACSR with the steel core accounted for

Aluminium conductor scrap splits three ways, and each is a different purchase. Bare EC-grade wire and cable — electrical-conductor aluminium, alloy 1350 at 99.5% aluminium minimum, clean of insulation, steel and other metals — is the top of the aluminium book. New production material trades under the ISRI name "Talon", and it is the grade a rod or wire maker can put back into conductor with the least correction; US yard buying indications for clean EC wire stood around $1.44/lb (≈ $3,175/t) in mid-September 2026, above clean 6063. Insulated aluminium cable is the same metal wrapped in PVC, XLPE or rubber, and like its copper equivalent it is bought on the aluminium recovered, not on gross weight: heavy single-conductor and service cable recovers far more than thin multicore building wire, and as a working guide recoveries run from around half of gross weight on light wire to around four-fifths on heavy conductor — which is why each lot is chopped or stripped on a sample and contracted to the tested figure. ACSR — aluminium conductor, steel reinforced — is overhead line: aluminium strands laid around a galvanised steel core. The steel is the whole issue. Its share varies with the stranding, it has to come out before the aluminium goes near a wire-rod furnace, and a lot sold as "ACSR" without its steel share stated is a lot without a price. The clean ways to buy it are stripped, with the steel core removed at origin, or whole, with the steel share measured on a sample and deducted. For copper conductor, see our insulated copper wire scrap page, which works on the same recovery logic.

The buyers are rod and wire makers remelting EC scrap back into conductor, and secondary smelters and alloy remelters taking insulated and mixed cable into ingot. India is the largest market nearby: it imported 2,023,710 t of HS 7602 aluminium scrap in 2025, 21.6% of it from the USA and 8.9% from the UK (UN Comtrade, 2025 import declarations, reporter India). Pakistan's melters buy insulated aluminium cable alongside copper cable and ACSR, and classification there decides the landed cost. Clean aluminium scrap, cable included, goes under PCT 7602.0090 ("other") at 0% customs duty and 18% sales tax, while PCT 7602.0010, aluminium scrap of auto parts, carries 30% — and shredded auto-derived material has been classed onto that line before — so clean cable should be presented clean and declared as "other", with the buyer's customs broker confirming. Insulated cable is green-list material (B1115) under Basel and EU/UK rules, so European origin moves on Annex VII paperwork for now; EU green-list exports to non-OECD countries run only until 20 May 2027, after which only destinations on the EU's approved list can receive them. Every lot carries a radiation-free certificate and a free-of clause covering copper conductor, steel armour, lead sheath and moisture. Whole cable is bulky and fills a container's volume before its weight, so it is usually baled or chopped before stuffing; freight is container freight quoted through lines and forwarders, and LC at sight is the usual payment on Pakistani buy offers.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices scrap freight, bulk ships and containers on LaycanDesk.

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.