The skimmings and bottom residues from hot-dip galvanising baths and die-casting furnaces — high in zinc and refined by distillation or resold to zinc oxide makers.
The skimmings and bottom residues from hot-dip galvanising baths and die-casting furnaces — high in zinc and refined by distillation or resold to zinc oxide makers.
Every galvanising line produces dross: top dross (zinc oxide and zinc skimmed from the bath surface), bottom dross (a zinc–iron compound that settles in the kettle) and zinc ash. Die-casting furnaces produce similar skimmings. These are by-products, not obsolete scrap, and they can contain 80 to 95 per cent zinc with iron, aluminium and oxide making up the rest.
Dross is sold by assay to refiners who recover zinc by distillation, to zinc-oxide and zinc-sulphate makers, and to brass makers who can use the zinc directly.
Galvanisers in every steel-consuming country generate dross, and India, China, South Korea and the European refiners are the buyers. Because it is classified as a residue rather than metal, dross can fall under hazardous-waste rules in some countries and needs the right paperwork to move across borders.
Code: Zinc dross, top dross, bottom dross, zinc ash
The main importing countries for this grade — each links to the country page with its mills, smelters, price references and named firms.