What are the Categories of Metal Products?

The metal products industry encompasses the manufacturing of structural metal products, metal tools, containers, metal packaging, stainless steel, and similar daily metal products. As society progresses and science and technology advance, the utilization of metal products in various sectors such as industry, agriculture, and daily life continues to expand, contributing increasingly to creating value for the community.

Metal products can be categorized into various groups, including:

 

• Ferrous metals

This category primarily consists of iron, chromium, manganese, and their alloys. It encompasses a wide range of materials such as industrial pure iron, cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, heat-resistant steel, and high-temperature alloys. Additionally, it includes chromium, manganese, and related alloys.

 

• Nonferrous metals

All metals and their alloys not containing iron, chromium, and manganese. Nonferrous metals are typically classified as light metals, heavy metals, precious metals, semi-metals, rare metals, and rare earth metals. Nonferrous alloys generally exhibit higher strength and hardness than pure metals, along with greater resistance and a smaller temperature coefficient of resistance.

 

• Special metal materials

This category includes structural and functional metal materials designed for diverse purposes. It encompasses amorphous, quasicrystalline, microcrystalline, and nanocrystalline metal materials obtained through processes like rapid condensation. Special functional alloys such as stealth, hydrogen resistance, superconductivity, shape memory, wear resistance, and vibration reduction are also part of this group, as are metal matrix composite materials.

 

• Light nonferrous metals

These are nonferrous metals with a specific gravity below 4.5, which include aluminum, magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, strontium, and barium. They are known for their low specific gravity, high chemical activity, and stability in compounds with oxygen, sulfur, carbon, and halogen.

 

• Heavy nonferrous metals

 Referring to non-ferrous metals with a specific gravity above 4.5, such as copper, nickel, lead, zinc, cobalt, tin, antimony, mercury, cadmium, and bismuth, each of these metals has unique applications based on their individual characteristics across various economic sectors.

 

• Precious metals

This group comprises gold, silver, and the platinum group elements (platinum, iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium), known for their scarcity in the earth's crust, stability to oxygen and reagents, and consequent high value compared to other metals.