PRICING
What Actually Decides the Price of Polyaluminium Chloride
Buyers often receive two PAC quotations that differ by tens of dollars per tonne and assume the cheaper one is cheaper. It frequently is not. Price per tonne of product says almost nothing on its own; the number that matters is the price per kilogram of active aluminium delivered to your plant. This guide explains what sits behind the price and how to put quotations on a comparable basis.
The unit that matters: dollars per kg of Al2O3 delivered
PAC is bought as a delivery system for Al2O3-equivalent aluminium. A tonne of a 28% industrial product contains 280 kg of Al2O3; a tonne of a 29% drinking-water product contains 290 kg. Dividing the price per tonne by the Al2O3 fraction puts both offers on the same scale.
Worked example: offer A is USD 340 per tonne at 28% Al2O3 - that is 340 / 0.28 = about USD 1,214 per tonne of Al2O3. Offer B is USD 350 per tonne at 29% - 350 / 0.29 = about USD 1,207 per tonne of Al2O3. The nominally dearer offer is slightly cheaper per unit of active material, and it also carries a drinking-water standard. The same arithmetic applies to liquid product, where freight water makes the per-tonne figure look deceptively low.
What sits behind the price
Content and grade come first: industrial 28% (GB/T 22627-2022) and drinking-water 29% (GB 15892-2020) are different products with different raw material routes, inspection regimes and documentation, so a drinking-water quotation should be judged against drinking-water offers, not industrial ones. Liquid product at about 10% Al2O3 is priced per tonne of solution; only the Al2O3-normalised figure makes it comparable to solid.
Beyond the specification, the main movers are the production route, order size, packaging (25 kg bags versus jumbo bags, palletised or not), the freight term - FOB, CFR or CIF - and the currency. For liquid, distance is decisive: at roughly three times the dosing rate of solid, every extra kilometre of freight erodes the price advantage.
A comparison checklist for quotations
Ask every supplier to quote on the same terms and fill in the same table. It takes ten minutes and prevents most pricing disputes later.
| Line | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Al2O3 content and standard | Normalises the price; defines the inspection regime |
| Basicity | Affects floc size, pH consumption and residual turbidity |
| Insolubles | High insolubles mean strainer blockage and dosing loss you pay for |
| Price term (FOB / CFR / CIF) | Freight and insurance differences hide in this line |
| Packaging | Bag quality affects caking losses in humid climates |
| Payment and lead time | Cash-flow and stock-planning effects |
| Documentation (COA, MSDS, certificate of origin) | Customs clearance and incoming-goods audit |
Hidden costs that make a cheap bag expensive
Caking in humid storage turns part of every bag into undissolved lumps that go out with the disposal water - a real loss you paid for. High insolubles do the same through strainer rejects. An off-spec batch that arrives after your peak season cannot be swapped quickly, and the emergency replacement rarely comes at a good price.
The largest hidden cost is usually dosing drift: a product with a weaker hydrolysis profile can need a noticeably higher dose to reach the same turbidity, which shows up not in the invoice but in the monthly chemical account. This is why a jar test against your current product, on your own water, is worth more than any price list.
Frequently asked questions
Why is liquid PAC cheaper per tonne than solid?
Because you are paying partly for water. Liquid product at about 10% Al2O3 costs less per tonne of solution, but you need roughly three times the dosing volume of solid, so only the Al2O3-normalised, delivered cost tells you which form is genuinely cheaper for your location.
How do I compare a 28% industrial quote with a 29% drinking-water quote?
Divide each price by its Al2O3 fraction and compare the delivered cost per tonne of Al2O3, then check that the drinking-water product actually comes with GB 15892-2020 documentation if your application needs it. A drinking-water premium is normal; it should be small, not dramatic.
Can prices be fixed for a season?
Many buyers fix quarterly or half-yearly prices with volume commitments. Raw material and freight swings are the main risks, so contracts usually allow adjustment triggers. Ask for validity stated explicitly on the quotation instead of leaving it open.