Sourcing aluminium sheet and composite panels

Duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, aluminium composite panels and non-alloy and alloy aluminium plates, sheet and strip over 0.2 mm carried 6% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure on the lines checked. Several alloy sheet lines carry suspensions for named uses: sheet 0.2 mm to 6 mm for the manufacture of balcony parts (7606 12 92 93 and 7606 12 93 86) is 0% until 30 June 2027 with document code 9Y12, and car body and aircraft uses have their own suspended or authorised-use lines, so declare the end use when it applies.

Aluminium extrusions are a different product with a live anti-dumping measure; see the aluminium extrusions guide. Confirm the commodity code for each sheet by alloy, thickness and coating.

All the lines in the table above are in the aluminium sector of the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which applies to imports from 1 January 2027. An importer who expects £50,000 or more of CBAM goods within 30 days, or has imported that much in the previous 12 months, must register, keep records for 6 years, and should ask suppliers for emissions data now. See our UK CBAM guide.

Composite panels and external walls

Regulation 7(1A) of the Building Regulations 2010, in England, requires that relevant metal composite material does not become part of an external wall, or specified attachment, of any building. Regulation 2 defines it as a panel or sheet no more than 10 mm thick with two or more metal layers and a substantial layer of material with a gross calorific value of more than 35 MJ/kg, tested to BS EN ISO 1716. A polyethylene-core panel falls within it.

Regulation 7(2) goes further for relevant buildings, those with a storey at least 18 metres above ground containing dwellings, an institution or residential rooms: materials becoming part of the external wall must be of European Classification A2-s1, d0 or A1. For any panel intended for a façade, ask for the core type, the calorific value test and the reaction-to-fire classification report before the order.

Signage, interiors and fabrication

Composite panels remain widely used for signs, displays and interior fit-out, where the external wall rules do not apply, and a fire-rated core can be specified where the customer or building needs it. State the intended use in the product specification so the factory supplies the right core; the signage guide covers display work.

For sheet, specify the alloy, temper, thickness tolerance, flatness and surface, and for coated panels the paint system and its warranty. For patterned plate, see sourcing aluminium chequer plate. For brazing sheet, see our aluminium brazing sheet sourcing guide. For anodised surfaces, see our anodised aluminium sheet sourcing guide. For cookware blanks, see our aluminium cookware circles sourcing guide.

Worked duty example

An invented example rather than a quote: 3,000 aluminium composite panels for signage, commodity code 7606 11 30 00, bought for £36,000 free on board, with £4,000 of freight and insurance, so £40,000 is the value customs works from. Duty at the 6% rate for aluminium composite panels is £2,400. VAT at 20% applies to £42,400, so £8,480. A VAT-registered buyer usually recovers the VAT, so the border adds £2,400 to the landed cost. Panels for signs and interiors only: the external wall rules in England bar combustible-core panels from buildings. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.

Inspection checklist

Core for façades: for panels that could go on an external wall, have the core tested for gross calorific value to BS EN ISO 1716 against the 35 MJ/kg threshold in the regulations, on panels taken from the delivered lot rather than a sample sent in advance.

Coating: measure dry film thickness to ISO 2808, gloss to ISO 2813 and adhesion by cross-cut to ISO 2409, and measure colour difference instrumentally against the approved master panel on several panels per lot.

Outdoor durability: for coated sheet and panels used outside, ask for neutral salt spray results to ISO 9227 and artificial weathering to ISO 16474-2 for the paint system, and check the paint maker's warranty names the product and colour.

What goes wrong

Composite panels and sheet fail on the core, the skins and the coating. Panels sold as fire-retardant turn out to have a polyethylene core, aluminium skins are thinner than specified, skins peel away from the core because bonding is weak, and polyester coatings fade and chalk outdoors where PVDF was promised. Protective film bakes on in sunlight and will not peel, and sheet arrives outside the thickness and flatness tolerances.

For any fire-retardant claim, get a BS EN 13501-1 classification report for the exact product and test the core on arrival, measure skin thickness and panel thickness, run a peel test on samples from each lot, check coating type, thickness and gloss, test film removal after exposure, and check sheet against the tolerances in BS EN 485 and the alloy in BS EN 573.

Protection and packing

Sheet and panels are damaged by scratching and edge knocks, so ask for protective film, interleaving and crated pallets, and check the surface at inspection and the packing at the container loading.

Cambridge China Bridge sources aluminium sheet and composite panels for signage, fabrication and interiors, with the core, fire classification and finish confirmed for the intended use. See how our sourcing service works.