As an important part of modern materials, non-ferrous metals and their alloys play an important role in national economy, daily life, national defense industry, scientific and technological development and other major fields. So what exactly does nonferrous metal mean?

What do you mean by non-ferrous metals?

There are about 64 kinds of non-ferrous metals. The most extensive and common statement about the classification of their specific varieties is: 1958. In China, iron, chromium and manganese are classified as ferrous metals, and 64 kinds of metals other than iron, chromium and manganese are classified as non-ferrous metals.

According to the book Sixty-four Nonferrous Metals published by 1997, these sixty-four non-ferrous metals include: aluminum, magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, strontium, barium, copper, lead, zinc, tin, cobalt, nickel, antimony, mercury, cadmium, bismuth, gold, silver, platinum, ruthenium and so on.

This division method is also the most widely spread 64 kinds of non-ferrous metal division methods. However, the existing 64 classification methods of non-ferrous metals all have shortcomings and do not include all non-ferrous metals.

However, although nonferrous metals generally refer to all metals except ferrous metals (iron, chromium and manganese), according to this classification, gold and silver also belong to nonferrous metals. However, in futures, gold and silver are generally classified as precious metals, while non-ferrous metals refer to copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, tin, nickel and international copper.

At present, all the above-mentioned nonferrous metals are listed on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, except for International Copper, which is listed on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange Center.