Pig iron is one of the prime and virgin raw material used in the manufacture of casting and Steel. Depending on the applicability of pig iron, it is classified into three main categories as under

Foundry Grade pig iron :

This grade is mainly used by foundries who manufacture various types of castings for automobile, pump, engineering and commercial castings. The main highlight of this grade is the silicon content which varies from 2.00% to 2.50%. With the requirement of maintaining about 1.9% of silicon in the final castings, this grade acts as a natural source of silicon in the end castings.

Steel Grade pig iron :

This grade is mainly used by steel manufacturers for use in induction furnace or arc furnace, steel, TMT brass, steel tubes, etc. These are some of the industries where this grade of silicon is used as input raw material along with other metallics. The main highlight of this grade is the silicon content which varies to a maximum level of 1.25%. The lower the silicon, the better the grade hence more acceptability in the steel industry.

Nodular Grade pig iron :

This grade is mainly used by foundries who manufacture various types of specialized nodular castings for the automobile, engineering and specific Commercial castings. The main highlight of this grade is the low phosphorous levels(0.08% max), low sulphur(0.015% max) and low manganese levels(0.3% max). Lower the values of these three elements, higher is the usage of pig iron in the overall metal mix. Silicon for this grade depends on the end casting but generally varies between 1% to 2%. This is a premium product and low manganese and phosphorous iron ore sourcing is critical to the production of this grade.

The standard specifications of pig iron for the above three grades are as below:

Grade Name Carbon Sulphur Silicon Manganese Phosphorous Foundry Grade FG10 3.5% - 4.3% 0.07% max 1.75% - 2.00% 0.4% - 0.8% 0.10% - 0.14% FG25 3.5% - 4.3% 0.06% max 2.25% - 2.50% 0.4% - 0.8% 0.10% - 0.14% Basic Grade BG05 3.5% - 4.6% 0.07% max 1.25% - 1.50% 0.4% - 1.2% 0.14% max Nodular Grade NG61 3.5% - 4.6% 0.015% max 1.25% - 1.50% 0.2% - 0.3% 0.08% max