How do you calculate billet yield?

Divide prime billet weight by total cast weight and multiply by 100. With 235,000 lb prime from 250,000 lb cast, yield is 235,000 / 250,000 x 100 = 94%.

What is a good billet yield in an aluminum casthouse?

Well-run DC casting operations typically hit 92-96% prime yield. The 94% example sits comfortably in that band, 2 points above a 92% target.

What counts as a yield loss in billet casting?

Butt ends and crop from each cast, scalped surface metal, homogenizing rejects, and any billet failing chemistry or ultrasonic inspection all reduce prime yield.

What does a negative gap to target mean here?

The gap is yield minus target. In the example it shows -2 because the tool subtracts in that order, but 94% achieved beats the 92% target by 2 points, so the result is favorable.

How is billet yield different from extrusion recovery?

Billet yield is a casthouse metric (prime billet out of cast metal). Extrusion recovery is downstream, measuring prime profile out of billet charged to the press. Both stack to give overall metal recovery.

How can I improve billet yield?

Reduce crop length, tighten scalping depth, stabilize casting speed and water flow to cut surface defects, and improve filtration to lower chemistry and inclusion rejects.

Metals, Steel, Aluminum & Coil Processing calculator

Billet Yield Calculator

Billet yield measures how much of the molten aluminum you poured in the casthouse came out as sellable, prime-quality billet versus ending up as butt ends, scalped surface, crop, or rejected metal. Casthouse managers and metallurgists watch it closely because remelt is expensive in energy and lost throughput, and every point of yield directly funds the bottom line. It captures the combined effect of casting recovery, homogenizing losses, saw crop, and quality rejects in one number. Trending it against a target exposes whether a recipe change, mold issue, or scalping setting is quietly eating metal.

What this calculator does

Estimate billet yield by dividing prime billet weight by the cast weight charged, then see how far the yield sits from your target.
Use it when a process or quality engineer tracks how much of the cast weight ends up as prime billet versus crop and scrap.
It computes prime billet weight as a percentage of total cast weight, plus the point gap to your target yield.

Formula used

Billet yield = prime billet weight ÷ cast weight × 100
Gap to target yield = billet yield - target yield

Inputs explained

Prime billet weight produced:
Total molten metal cast:
Target casthouse yield:

How to use the result

Use it per cast or per campaign to track casthouse recovery and catch recipe or equipment drift early.
Yield says nothing about why metal was lost; a low number could be crop, surface defects, or chemistry rejects that need separate root-cause work.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The producer price index for aluminum mill shapes stands at 404.859 (BLS, May 2026), up 36.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The producer price index for copper and brass mill shapes stands at 559.593 (BLS, May 2026), up 76.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move. Global copper trades at $13,484 per tonne (IMF via FRED, May 2026).

Common questions

How do you calculate billet yield? Divide prime billet weight by total cast weight and multiply by 100. With 235,000 lb prime from 250,000 lb cast, yield is 235,000 / 250,000 x 100 = 94%.
What is a good billet yield in an aluminum casthouse? Well-run DC casting operations typically hit 92-96% prime yield. The 94% example sits comfortably in that band, 2 points above a 92% target.
What counts as a yield loss in billet casting? Butt ends and crop from each cast, scalped surface metal, homogenizing rejects, and any billet failing chemistry or ultrasonic inspection all reduce prime yield.
What does a negative gap to target mean here? The gap is yield minus target. In the example it shows -2 because the tool subtracts in that order, but 94% achieved beats the 92% target by 2 points, so the result is favorable.
How is billet yield different from extrusion recovery? Billet yield is a casthouse metric (prime billet out of cast metal). Extrusion recovery is downstream, measuring prime profile out of billet charged to the press. Both stack to give overall metal recovery.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.