Aluminum sheet prices from Chinese export suppliers such as Lingfeng Aluminum Co., Ltd. list 1xxx, 3xxx, 5xxx, and 6xxx grade sheets in a US$1,900-3,000/ton range [S3].
Lingfeng Aluminum Co. (Zhejiang) publishes 2026 price ranges of US$1,900-3,000/ton on 1050/1060/1070/1100/3003/5052/5083/6061 sheet at 5-ton MOQ, while mill-finish 2000 mm-width coil and 0.5 mm building coil move in a wider US$2,000-4,000/ton window [S3]. CHALCO's industrial sheet/plate listing is currently at US$3,100/ton at 2-ton MOQ for the priced SKUs, with the rest flagged "Negotiable" [S1].
Alloy series and the price spread that follows them
Shanghai Metal's 2026 catalog groups flat-rolled aluminum into 8 series by chemistry, and the resulting FOB price spread is non-trivial: 1xxx (Al≥90% pure) and 3xxx (Al-Mn) sit in the US$1,600-2,500/ton band, 5xxx (Al-Mg) clusters at US$1,900-3,200/ton, and 6xxx/7xxx (Al-Mg-Si, Al-Zn) carry a US$2,900-4,000/ton premium driven by heat-treatment and tighter flatness tolerance [S2][S3]. For example, 3003 H14 sheet is quoted at US$2,750-3,025/ton at 2-ton MOQ by Lingfeng, while 6061-T6 plate on Made-in-China ranges from US$2.90-4.90/kg, i.e. roughly US$2,900-4,900/ton [S3][S7][S8].
The internal link aluminum alloy explains why this spread exists: pure aluminum is soft and formable but low-strength, 5052 adds Mg for marine-grade corrosion resistance, and 6061/7075 add Mg-Si or Zn for structural strength — each step in alloying raises mill energy, scrap ratio, and heat-treatment cost, and that cost flows into the quoted per-ton number. Hot-rolled plate (>6 mm) typically prices below cold-rolled sheet of the same alloy because of tighter gauge tolerance and brighter surface finish on the cold-rolled side [S2].
What actually moves the quote: temper, thickness, finish
Temper is the second lever. O/H111/H14 soft tempers price 5-10% below T6/T651 hardened tempers on the same 6061 base; the H temper is achieved by strain-hardening, while T6 requires solution heat-treat + artificial aging, and the extra furnace step shows up in the line item [S2][S3]. Lingfeng's 3003 H14 sits at US$2,750-3,025/ton, while its 3003/3004 cookware-grade circle plate drops to US$1,600-2,600/ton at 3-ton MOQ, reflecting the looser temper and tighter gauge range [S3].
Surface finish is the third lever. Mill-finish 1050/1060 is the cheapest variant; mirror-finish sheet (Lingfeng's "Large Mirror Sheet") is listed at US$2,000-2,500/ton at 2.5-ton MOQ; color-coated/PVDF-coated coil (CHANGZHOU DINGANG) jumps to US$3,480-3,600/ton at 5-ton MOQ [S3][S1]. Diamond/checker plate carries a separate US$2.90/kg ≈ US$2,900/ton premium for the raised pattern and slip rating on 1xxx-6xxx bases [S8]. The encyclopedia entry on aluminum veneer panel covers how PVDF coating feeds into architectural-grade flat sheet, which is the higher end of this finish tier.
MOQ logic and supplier-type spread
MOQ on Chinese mill channels is a real cost driver: trading companies on Made-in-China list 1-5 ton MOQs at US$1,600-2,000/ton on commodity 1xxx/3xxx, while integrated mills like CHALCO set 2-ton MOQs at US$3,100/ton on the priced industrial plate SKUs and mark the rest "Negotiable" [S1]. OKorder's B2B listings cluster at 5-50 m.t. OKorder supplier listings show MOQ bands of 4-50 m.t. with declared supply capability of 1,000-1,000,000 m.t./month across aluminum plate, foil, and stock products [S4][S6].
Trumony Aluminum's website positions itself as a cooling-plate and tube specialist with mixed product lines rather than a flat-rolled mill, so its sheet offering tends to price on application rather than per-ton [S5]. For buyers, the practical rule is: a 5-ton MOQ on a trading-company listing is the cleanest entry point, and any quote that is more than 25% below the Lingfeng 2026 floor of US$1,800/ton on a 1xxx/3xxx cold-rolled sheet deserves a mill-certificate check — that kind of discount is almost always temper, gauge tolerance, or finish, not a real commodity move [S3][S4]. The reference piece on titanium bar stock pricing uses the same MOQ-spread logic for a different non-ferrous metal and is worth scanning for the cross-check.
Spec format buyers should pin down before RFQ
A clean RFQ for aluminum sheet in 2026 needs: alloy (1xxx/3xxx/5xxx/6xxx/7xxx), temper (O/H14/H32/T6/T651), thickness range (e.g. 0.5-3 mm for cold-rolled sheet, 6-100 mm for plate), width (1000/1220/1500/2000 mm), surface finish (mill/polished/mirror/PVDF color-coated), and intended standard (ASTM B209 for sheet/plate, EN 485 for European buyers, GB/T 3880 for domestic China) [S2]. The format 1050-H14-1.0×1220×2440 mm is the typical Chinese-export spec string; ASTM B209 covers the same product class in the US and is the standard most overseas QC teams will check on the mill cert.
For the product type itself — a flat-rolled sheet rather than an extrusion — buyers should know that aluminum extrusion profile pricing follows a different cost model (die cost + run length), which is why flat sheet is almost always cheaper per kg than a custom profile of the same alloy. Applications that look like sheet but are actually aluminum window and door profiles fall outside the flat-rolled price band entirely. Also note the aluminum extrusion alloy guide is a useful cross-reference when a project is mixed (sheet cladding + extruded frames) and the buyer is trying to align alloy choice across both.
Real use cases and where this price band lands
On the 1xxx/3xxx low end (US$1,600-2,500/ton), the typical call is cookware, lighting reflectors, transformer winding strip, and honeycomb-core panels — all of which are visible in Lingfeng's 2026 catalog: aluminum disc/circle for cookware at US$1,600-2,600/ton, transformer winding strip at US$1,800-3,000/ton, and aluminum coil for honeycomb at the same band [S3][S9]. The internal entry on aluminum ladder is a downstream example of where 1xxx/3xxx sheet/plate lands in industrial consumer goods.
On the 5xxx/6xxx mid-band (US$1,900-3,200/ton), the dominant uses are marine panels, road and rail vehicle panels, building curtain-wall backing, and chemical-tank shells — 5083 and 5754 in particular are the alloys named in marine-grade listings at 3-5 mm thickness [S3][S9]. On the 6xxx-T6/7xxx-T6 upper end (US$2,900-4,900/ton), the call is mold plates, aerospace tooling, structural transport panels, and high-strength architectural cladding — CHALCO's industrial plate and Made-in-China's 6061-T6 plate both sit in this zone [S1][S7][S8]. For buyers who treat cost strictly per kg, the math is: a 5xxx marine panel costs about 1.3× a 1xxx cookware sheet, a 6061-T6 panel costs about 2×, and a 7075-T6 panel can run 2.5-3× — but the strength/weight numbers move in the same direction, so the cost-per-unit-stiffness can actually favor the higher alloy.
Limitations and sourcing risks to flag in 2026
Three failure modes keep showing up in 2026 sheet sourcing. First, temper mislabeling: a 3003-O sheet sold as 3003-H14 will fail a hand-sample bend test and the buyer's downstream forming line; pin the temper on the mill cert and on the PO line. Second, gauge tolerance drift on cold-rolled sheet: ASTM B209 allows tighter tolerance on drawn-quality sheet than on mill-run coil, and the price gap reflects that — a US$1,600/ton quote on "6061 cold-rolled" is almost certainly mill-run rather than drawn-quality. Third, color-coating and anodizing add-on quotes: PVDF-coated coil at US$3,480-3,600/ton is the actual Kynar 500-class coating, while a US$2,500/ton "colored" sheet is usually polyester (PE) and will fade in 5-7 years of exterior exposure [S1][S3][S8].
Logistics risk is the variable buyers often miss. A US$1,900/ton FOB quote from a Zhejiang mill becomes a US$2,250-2,400/ton CIF quote in a US or EU port once container freight, 7-10% US Section 232 / EU CBAM duty (where applicable), and port handling are added. For context, the hydraulic lift table price band uses the same FOB-to-CIF bridging logic for a different commodity and is a useful cross-check on landed-cost math.
Trackable signals for the next 90 days: (1) CHALCO's "Negotiable" SKUs on Made-in-China — if the listed price moves off "Negotiable" to a hard number, that is the cleanest read on mill-level sentiment [S1]; (2) Lingfeng's 2026 catalog re-pricing of 6061-T6 plate — the current US$1,900-3,000/ton window has been stable since 2026-06, and any widening of the upper bound above US$3,200/ton would signal 6xxx mill tightness [S3]; (3) OKorder's supply-capability line on the marine-grade 3-5 mm sheet — currently 5,000 m.t./month, and a 20% drop usually leads the spot price by 4-6 weeks [S9].