Clean single-piece unplated aluminium alloy wheels — high-quality low-iron A356.2. Prized for wheel re-manufacture and high-integrity castings.

ISRI Grade Name: Troma

ISRI Description and Specification

Troma is the ISRI designation for clean, single-piece, unplated aluminium alloy wheels (rims) removed from automobiles and trucks. The specification requires that Troma wheels be manufactured from a single aluminium alloy — typically A356 or similar 3xx.x-series casting alloy — and that they be free of multi-piece construction (bead-lock wheels, split-rim designs, and similar are excluded). The wheels must not be chrome-plated, painted with heavy coatings, or anodised to a degree that interferes with melting. They must be free of steel valve stems, tyre rubber and bead wire, balancing weights (both lead and steel), hub caps, plastic centre caps, and steel wheel nuts or bolts. Traces of grease or brake dust at normal levels for used wheels are generally acceptable within commercial practice. Lots must be free of steel wheels, damaged wheels containing steel wire inserts, or non-aluminium wheel components.

Why Troma Commands Strong Pricing

Aluminium alloy wheels (particularly OEM fitments from passenger cars) are predominantly manufactured from A356.2 — a very clean, low-iron, low-copper hyper-eutectic aluminium-silicon-magnesium alloy with excellent strength and corrosion resistance. Because wheel alloy is consistently of high quality and relatively low contamination, Troma material is among the better-performing non-ferrous casting scrap grades in terms of metal recovery and ingot quality. A356.2 recovered from Troma processing can be re-melted into new wheel castings or high-integrity structural casting applications — a relatively high-value secondary use compared to general die-casting alloy production.

Who Uses Troma Scrap

Primary consumers of Troma include secondary aluminium smelters specialising in A356 production, aluminium wheel re-manufacturers, and automotive casting alloy ingot producers. In refurbishment markets, some Troma wheels are diverted from scrap processing to physical cleaning, straightening, and re-sale as second-hand wheels — a value path that secondary metal traders must account for when buying Troma lots. OEM aluminium wheel manufacturers in India (serving passenger car and two-wheeler OEMs) increasingly use secondary A356 ingot derived from Troma as a feedstock component in their metal mix, subject to chemistry verification. Auto recyclers, vehicle dismantling operations, and tyre shops generating used rims are the primary supply contributors.