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Base metals are metals that oxidize easily and react with hydrochloric acid. Iron, aluminum, and copper are the most commonly used base metals in industry. Other important base metals include zinc, lead, nickel, and tin. Base metal prices and supply and demand figures are split from the scrap market versus mining and are tracked by a base metals index. The higher the metal’s rarity and value, the higher it trades on the exchange.
A base metal can be defined mainly in two different ways. When it comes to analytical chemistry, a base metal is any metal that oxidizes easily in the presence of air and reacts with hydrochloric acid to produce gases such as hydrogen. Metals used in chemical research include lead, iron and nickel. From the point of view of the production or extraction of base metals, these metals are those most commonly used in the construction of infrastructure and equipment for industry and include steel, aluminum and copper. Another distinguishing fact for base metals is that they usually have more practical uses than precious metals, such as gold and silver which are valued for their luster and as galvanic coatings for jewelry and other ornamental items.
The three most used base metals on Earth as of 2011, in descending order, are iron to form hundreds of varieties of steel, aluminum, and copper. Steel is used in virtually all heavy industry, and aluminum has become an essential metal for aircraft and automobile manufacturing. Copper is the most common form of metal used in electrical piping and wiring due to its malleability, high electrical conductance, and relative abundance.
Four other important base metal elements used by industry include: zinc, lead, nickel and tin. Zinc’s primary function is as a galvanized coating on steel, as it does not corrode when exposed to air like steel does over time. There remains an enduring demand for lead as a key component in automotive batteries, other types of batteries, and for various uses such as soldering in circuits. Nickel is used to strengthen steel and has corrosion resistant applications like that of zinc. Tin, like many other base metal elements, is a key component of metal alloys, which are often centered around a steel formula.
Not all base metals items are actively traded in the market, but are tracked by a base metals index. Steel has so many varieties and chemical formulations that it is usually tracked as a group within a diverse metal category and aluminum is tracked separately. Since many metals are also recovered from scrap, base metal prices and supply and demand figures are also split from the scrap market versus mining. The rarer and more valuable the metal, the higher it usually trades on the exchange, with cobalt being the highest valued base metal on the London Metal Exchange as of 2011, closely followed by molybdenum. Metals trading at the lower end of the commodity spectrum include aluminum, lead and zinc alloys.
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