Aluminium Extrusion
Old window and door frames are the classic source of aluminium extrusion, and the highest-value aluminium grade ScrapTrade prices. The catch is that most architectural extrusion in Australia is powder-coated or anodised, which disqualifies it from that top grade regardless of how clean the shape looks. Here's what genuinely counts, and how to sell it for what it's worth.
Extrusion is made by pushing heated aluminium through a shaped die, which is why it always has a consistent, often hollow, cross-section running the full length of the piece, window and door frames, curtain wall sections, and general architectural profile are the classic examples. The 6063 alloy specifically is chosen for exactly this kind of work because it extrudes cleanly and takes a good surface finish. For the scrap grade to count as clean, though, it needs to be genuinely uncoated, no paint, no powder-coat, no anodised finish, on top of having no cast aluminium mixed in.
ScrapTrade's live-priced Aluminium Extrusion (6063) category is specifically clean, uncoated window and door extrusion. See our full aluminium scrap guide for how this compares to the other two aluminium grades, cans and sheet.
Check today's extrusion pricePowder-coating and anodising are both extremely common on Australian architectural aluminium, black, white, and bronze finishes especially dominate modern window and door frame design. That popularity is exactly the problem for sellers: a lot of what looks like premium extrusion, clean lines, a proper profile shape, is actually coated, and coating removes it from the clean, uncoated grade regardless of how good the underlying metal is.
Coated extrusion isn't worthless, it's still real aluminium, it just prices as a different, lower category than clean 6063. The honest move is describing it accurately in your listing rather than hoping a buyer doesn't notice, an accurate grade gets a more confident offer than an optimistic one does.
A quick way to check: run a fingernail or a coin edge lightly across an inconspicuous spot. Bare aluminium shows a consistent metallic surface underneath, while a coating will show as a distinct layer that can chip, flake, or scratch through to a different colour beneath it. Anodising is trickier to spot than paint or powder-coat since it's a thinner, bonded finish rather than a surface layer, if you're unsure, describing the material honestly as "uncertain finish" in your listing is better than guessing either way.
Extrusion follows window, door, and shopfront construction closely. Sydney generates a steady stream of it from Western Sydney's fit-outs and demolitions specifically, right around ScrapTrade's own head office. Brisbane's ongoing construction and infrastructure growth generates real, documented volumes of aluminium alongside structural steel and copper from new-build and demolition work alike.
Neither city is a requirement. Window and door installers, glaziers, and renovators generate extrusion offcuts anywhere in Australia, and ScrapTrade connects buyers and sellers nationally regardless of where a listing is posted from.
Clean, uncoated 6063 needs almost no processing before it can be re-extruded into new profile stock, no stripping, no separating out a coating, just melting and recasting. That's the whole basis for it commanding the top price among the three aluminium grades: the less work a buyer has to do, the more of that saved cost gets passed back to you as a seller. Extrusion prices move with the broader aluminium market day to day, not on a fixed schedule, so checking a live reference price before you list matters regardless of what time of year it is or how large your load happens to be.
A buyer who can't easily tell coated from uncoated extrusion on sight has every incentive to price your load toward the cautious, coated assumption. On ScrapTrade, you check a live reference price first, describe the material accurately, then list at a fixed price, run it as a live auction so verified buyers assess it properly, or negotiate directly, negotiation is on by default on every listing. Every listing is GPS-video verified before it goes live, and payment sits in escrow from the moment a deal is confirmed until pickup or delivery is done, so neither side is exposed first. The full case for why that beats a single yard quote is on Why Choose ScrapTrade and Trust & Safety.
No, the clean extrusion grade specifically requires no coating at all. Powder-coating and anodising are both extremely common on Australian architectural aluminium, black, white, and bronze finishes especially, so a lot of window and door frame offcuts that look like top-grade extrusion don't actually qualify once the coating is factored in.
Extrusion has a consistent, often hollow, machined cross-section running the full length of the piece, it's pushed through a die rather than cast or rolled. If it has a uniform profile shape and no coating, it's very likely clean 6063 extrusion.
Usually not for a small amount, the labour involved in removing a bonded coating outweighs the price gap. For genuine volume, it's worth checking with a buyer whether they process coated material at all, some do at a lower price rather than requiring it stripped first.
Yes, as long as it's all genuinely clean 6063 extrusion with no coating and no cast pieces mixed in. Mixing coated with uncoated, or extrusion with cast aluminium like wheels or brackets, gets the whole lot priced down as mixed alloy scrap instead.
Photograph it clearly and describe it as uncoated in your listing. Check a live reference price first, then run it as a live auction so verified buyers assess your actual material rather than pricing toward a cautious, coated-by-default assumption.
It extrudes cleanly through a die at relatively low pressure, takes a good surface finish for anodising or powder-coating, and has solid corrosion resistance, all useful properties for window, door, and shopfront framing. That's also why it's the specific alloy ScrapTrade's clean extrusion category is built around, rather than aluminium generally.
Sort them into two piles before you list. Uncoated pieces grade as clean extrusion, coated pieces grade separately, and combining them means the whole lot prices at the lower, coated rate rather than getting the clean pieces the price they deserve.
Yes, ideally. Rubber gaskets, weatherstripping, and any leftover glass are contamination that a buyer has to remove before processing, and leaving them attached will get the load priced down as a mixed lot rather than clean extrusion. A few minutes pulling the obvious attachments off is generally worth it.
Check a live price, then sell at a fixed price, run an auction, or negotiate directly.
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