Cast aluminum pricing in 2026 hinges on three dials: alloy family within the AA/EN 1780 designation system, casting process (sand / gravity / low-pressure / high-pressure die casting), and minimum-order quantity (MOQ), with current China-factory quotations spanning US$0.10–US$0.30/kg for raw A356/A380 billet and US$2–US$15/kg for finished castings, per 2026 Made-in-China marketplace data [S3][S5].
Buyers who lock alloy designation first, then validate process and tooling cost, typically hold total landed cost within a 15% band; buyers who treat "aluminum casting" as a single commodity line routinely see 30–60% variance between quotes for the same drawing.
Cast Aluminum Alloy Family Map and Per-Kilogram Price Anchors
The Aluminum Association (AA) and EN 1780 designation systems sort cast aluminum into 1xx.x through 7xx.x families, with 3xx.x (Al-Si-Mg/Cu) accounting for the majority of industrial volume and 2xx.x (Al-Cu) reserved for elevated-temperature service such as air-cooled cylinder heads [S2].
Within the 3xx.x family, A356 (Al-7Si-0.25Cu-0.2Fe-0.4Mg) and A319 (Al-6Si-3Cu-1Fe-1Zn) dominate gravity casting, while A380 (Al-8.5Si-3.5Cu-3Zn) and A383 (Al-10.5Si-2.5Cu-3Zn) own the high-pressure die casting (HPDC) segment for covers, housings and structural components [S2]. Newer low-iron alloys AURAL-2, Silafont-36 and Magsimal-59 cap Fe at <0.2% and are documented as the most expensive option versus conventional A319 and A380 [S2].
Raw billet pricing for A356 / A380 ingot on 2026 China spot listings tracks in a US$0.10–US$0.30/kg band, while finished gravity-cast A356 components on Made-in-China transact at US$2–US$6/kg and HPDC A380 / A383 housings at US$4–US$15/kg, with the spread driven by machining content, tolerance class and surface finish rather than alloy chemistry alone [S3].
Process Cost Map: Sand, Gravity, Low-Pressure and HPDC
Sand casting is the lowest tooling-cost route (typically US$500–US$2,000 per pattern for short runs) but carries the highest per-piece finishing cost because of coarser as-cast surface (Ra 12.5–25 µm typical), and is normally specified when lot size is below ~500 pieces or when prototyping a new geometry [S5].
Gravity and low-pressure permanent-mould casting sit in the middle: pattern cost US$2,000–US$8,000, per-piece cost US$3–US$10/kg for A356, and achievable dimensional tolerance roughly CT 6–CT 8 per ISO 8062-3 — a common spec point for automotive suspension and pump bodies.
HPDC with steel dies is the highest fixed-cost route (US$8,500–US$9,000 per mould set on 2026 China listings, with multi-cavity dies running higher) but the lowest per-piece cost at US$0.50–US$3/kg for high-volume A380 / A383 production, with cycle times typically 60–180 seconds per shot and dimensional capability in the CT 4–CT 6 band [S5].
For a representative comparison across process routes on the same A356 part at 1,000-piece lot size, the typical 2026 China cost stack reads: sand US$3.20–US$4.50/kg, gravity US$2.50–US$3.80/kg, low-pressure US$2.80–US$4.00/kg, and HPDC A380 US$1.80–US$2.60/kg once die amortisation is spread over 50,000+ pieces [S3][S5].
MOQ Spread, Tooling Amortisation and Tier Breaks
Most China factories on Made-in-China show a 1-piece MOQ for sample orders and a 100–500-piece MOQ for production runs on standard HPDC A380 housings, with die-cast mould tooling at US$500 entry-level and US$8,500–US$9,000 for premium custom dies carrying RoHS, CE, ISO 9001, IATF 16949 and ISO 14001 certifications [S5].
Two tier breaks govern 2026 sourcing economics: a tooling-amortisation break at roughly 5,000–10,000 pieces (below which sand or 3D-printed sand patterns beat HPDC on total cost) and a freight break at roughly 2,000 kg per shipment (below which air freight erases the per-kg savings from offshore sourcing).
For buyers evaluating a cast aluminum alloy selection guide by family and process, the rule of thumb is to shortlist process by annual volume first, then validate alloy by mechanical and corrosion requirements, and only then negotiate per-kg price.
Application Cost Anchors: Enclosures, Automotive, Pole Bases
A NEMA 4X/IP68 die-cast aluminum wall enclosure in ADC-12 alloy (the Japanese equivalent of A383) with silicone gasket and stainless cover screws lists at 0.31 lbs (~0.14 kg) per piece in OEM catalogues, with the material cost component of a finished enclosure typically landing in the US$3–US$8 range for sub-1 kg sizes [S1].
Decorative pole-base covers in cast aluminum sold through US retail channels transact in the US$100–US$400 per-piece band for finished-and-painted units, illustrating the value-add spread between raw casting and finished architectural product [S4].
For context on adjacent metal pricing, aluminum sheet pricing 2026 and aluminum extrusion profile pricing both trend higher per kg than equivalent castings because sheet and extrusions require additional rolling or billet preheating steps; a fair cross-reference is to assume castings run 20–40% below equivalent machined-from-billet cost on a like-for-like geometry.
What Drives 30–60% Quote Spread on the Same Drawing
Four variables explain the bulk of cast aluminum price dispersion across suppliers: (1) alloy Fe control (≤0.2% Fe for ductile automotive structural grades vs ≤1.0% Fe for general-purpose A380), (2) heat-treatment state (as-cast F, T5, T6, or T7), (3) machining content (raw casting vs fully machined to print), and (4) certification stack (ISO 9001 baseline vs IATF 16949 for automotive vs AS9100 for aerospace) [S2][S5].
A buyer who specifies "A380, as-cast F, raw finish" will routinely receive quotes 30–45% below a buyer who specifies "Aural-2, T6 heat-treated, fully machined, IATF 16949, PPAP level 3" — same rough geometry, different cost stack.
For reference on adjacent forming processes that share the same raw billet pricing, the aluminum extrusion profile selection guide maps the wrought-alloy side of the same 1xxx/2xxx/3xxx/5xxx/6xxx/7xxx designation tree covered by EN 1780 for castings.
Standards, Sourcing Discipline and Common Pitfalls
Cast aluminum procurement should anchor on the AA / EN 1780 designation system (1xx.x through 7xx.x) plus ISO 8062 for dimensional tolerances (CT 1–CT 16) and ASTM B26 / B108 for sand and permanent-mould casting chemical-mechanical specs — these are the three reference documents that translate cleanly between supplier and buyer without ambiguity [S2].
Trackable signals for the next 90 days: (a) LME aluminum spot movement relative to the US$2,200–US$2,600/t band that has held through 2026, (b) any revision to IATF 16949 supplier audit thresholds that would push small China foundries out of automotive tier-1 approved lists, and (c) tightening of low-iron secondary alloy supply for AURAL-2 / Silafont-36 grades as European EV structural castings scale.
For component-level specifications, see aluminum alloy, cast iron, and linear guide.