Aluminium box section price per metre in the UK

You have a 1 m aluminium rectangle in the basket at £13.15, and a shop page for the same 30 × 15 × 1.3 mm 6063-T6 section at £2.98 inc VAT per metre. The aluminium box section price per metre only makes sense once both lines name the same outside sizes, the same wall, and the same tax treatment. A short amazon.co.uk cut can cost more per metre than a trade length, and it can also cost more per metre than a smaller square that will not fit the drawing. On 16 October 2026 the kept amazon cuts ran from £11.00 to £21.59 for 800 mm or 1 m.

The aluminium rectangular tube comparison is those five GBP shelf prices. It is not a national average, and the stockholder figures below stay in their own channel. Prices and stars are the amazon.co.uk figures recorded on 16 October 2026. We did not test a bar in a lab. Onward links to amazon.co.uk are affiliate links. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

In short

In this amazon.co.uk set the lowest price per metre is £11.00, for 30 × 20 × 2 mm with no alloy stated. The stated 6063-T6 metre is £13.15, and the 800 mm cut of that section is £15.66 per metre. A Fabal shop page the same day showed £2.98 inc VAT per metre for 30 × 15 × 1.3 mm, in lengths to 5 m. Square prices are another section, and none of these figures includes a courier fee, a certificate, or a working load.

What the captured cuts cost per metre

Price per metre is the shelf price divided by the stated length. A 1 m bar's price is already a per-metre price. The 800 mm bar is not. These five prices are the kept mill-finish set from 16 October 2026, with no screws, brackets, or end caps.

The 800 mm Fabal, 30 × 15 × 1.3 mm in 6063-T6, is £12.53, which is £15.66 per metre. The same section at 1,000 mm is £13.15. Aluminium Online is £11.00 for 30 × 20 × 2 mm, £15.85 for 40 × 20 × 2 mm, and £21.59 for the 60 × 40 × 3 mm title, model RH060x40x3, each sold as 1,000 mm.

The £11.00 line is the lowest amazon price per metre here, and it is not the Fabal section. It is 30 × 20 mm with a 2 mm wall, no alloy or temper, and a star line of 4.0 from 2 with no written review. The title claims next-working-day delivery. The outside-diameter field stores 30 mm, one face, so measure on arrival.

Only the two Fabal bars print 6063-T6. The £13.15 metre is the top pick in this set when that section fits a light frame under 1 m. You pay 62p more than the 800 mm cut and receive 200 mm more, so £13.15 per metre beats £15.66. The £15.85 bar has no alloy, and the £21.59 title also stores a sheet, so measure that parcel before you keep it.

What UK stockholders publish per metre

Stockist pages price their own sections, mostly square, on a channel seen the same day, so they do not belong in the amazon table. Fabal's shop showed 30 × 15 × 1.3 mm in 6063-T6 at £2.98 inc VAT per metre, with lengths to 5 m. At that printed rate, five metres is £14.90, about £1.75 above the amazon metre, and delivery is not in the sum.

metals4U lists squares from about £4.13 per metre ex VAT for 12.7 × 12.7 × 1.6 mm, through 20 × 20 × 1.5 mm at £5.95 ex VAT. Those do not price 30 × 15 mm. Its 50.8 mm square was £14.80 ex VAT, £17.76 inc VAT, per metre, nothing short and up to 3 mm long.

The Metal Store showed 25 × 25 × 1.5 mm at £8.40 inc VAT for 1 m, grade 6082, with free cuts. A free cut is not a free bar, and a square is not this rectangle. ClickMetal starts from £4.87, with 6063-T6 on the thinner wall and 6082-T6 on 10 swg, so that start price is not a 30 × 15 mm quote. Rackerman showed £12.00 per metre for a 5 m 6063-T6 rectangle on a sold-out listing, which is not a rate you can average with £2.98. The same-section pair is the shop metre and the amazon metre at £13.15.

Ex VAT, inc VAT, and a cut you cannot return

The amazon figures are shelf prices as shown, with no net-and-VAT split. Leave £11.00, £13.15, £15.85 and £21.59 alone. Adding 20 per cent invents a checkout those pages did not show.

Use a stockist's pair when it prints one. metals4U's 50.8 mm square is £14.80 ex VAT and £17.76 inc VAT per metre, and it is still a square. The £4.13 and £5.95 index lines were captured ex VAT only, so they are not grossed up here. The Metal Store's £8.40 and the Fabal shop's £2.98 are already inc VAT. ClickMetal's from £4.87 line is not labelled ex or inc in this note.

Custom cuts on that metals4U page are not returnable. You pay for a length up to 3 mm long, and the offcut is yours. A stock amazon metre is a different risk. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 still expects the goods to match the description. If the 60 × 40 × 3 mm title arrives as the stored sheet, measure it and use the seller's returns route.

Fabal allows about ±2 mm, so measure before you drill, and trust the metric line rather than the approximate imperial one. Delivery is outside every rate. If the shop fee exceeds the gap between £2.98 and £13.15, the cheap metre is no longer cheap at the door.

When the short cut is still the right spend

The short cut is rational when a long bar cannot do the job. A garden gate is often wider than 1 m, so one amazon metre will not span it. You join bars, or you buy longer, and the plates are not in the £13.15.

Under 1 m, with 6063-T6 on the listing, the Fabal metre is the cleaner short cut. The 1.3 mm wall suits a through-bolt or a rivet better than a thread cut in the metal. The 800 mm cut at £12.53 is right when that length fills the gap and the extra 200 mm would be scrap. It is the wrong saving at 850 mm, because the tolerance can leave you short.

The £11.00 bar is an unstated alloy, a 2 mm wall, and a 30 × 20 mm section. It is not a cheaper 30 × 15 mm 6063-T6, and setting it beside £2.98 mixes channel, section, and temper. Pay £15.85 or £21.59 only for those larger sections, and measure the 60 × 40 mm parcel past the sheet field.

Five metres at the printed £2.98 rate is £14.90. That wins when you can take the length and store the offcut. It loses when the bar will not fit the car. No minimum order or lead time was captured. If either appears at checkout, put it in the sum before you call the short cut dear.

What this price does not buy

The shelf price buys a stated length of mill-finish aluminium if the parcel matches the title. It does not buy a mill certificate, and it does not buy 6082. Only the Fabal bars state 6063-T6. A blank temper is not T6, and commercial on the 60 × 40 mm listing is not a strength grade.

No listing states a working load, a span, or a deflection. A light shelf under 1 m is the job these cuts are sold for. A bar that carries a person, a roof, a stair, or a floor is outside the set, and building structure sits under Approved Document A. These bars are not seamless pressure pipe. Do not put water, gas, or pressure in them.

There is no anodised price, so the mill-finish box section price is the only finish price here. Painting or anodising comes later, apart from the £13.15. Mill finish dulls outdoors, and a joint against bare steel or copper needs isolating. Fixings and end caps are a second spend. Stars, including 5.0 from a single review, are not a wall test. If you need a certificate, a trade length, or a structure someone will stand on, this price is the wrong tool. Every figure is a page from 16 October 2026.