What is RAL 1018 PPGI sheet?
RAL 1018, Zinkgelb / zinc yellow, is a clean, luminous yellow with a slight green cast — lighter and cooler than the orange-yellow RAL 1023 traffic yellow and 1021 rape yellow, and the RAL closest to the ISO 3864 safety yellow used for hazard marking. On coil-coated steel it serves two markets. The first is safety and material-handling equipment: warehouse guardrails, mezzanine edge protection, column and rack protectors, machine guards, bollard sleeves, forklift-lane barriers and site signage blanks, where the sheet is 0.8–1.2 mm, roll-formed or folded, and the colour must stay bright indoors under artificial light for years. The second is branding — logistics, retail, rental and construction companies whose corporate colour is yellow and who want the roof, fascia or whole building in it. Yellow is the hardest colour to keep: organic yellow pigments fade and chalk faster than any other under UV, and the light colour shows the chalking as a whitish bloom. Indoors a standard 25 µm polyester is fine; outdoors, HDP or PVDF (with inorganic bismuth-vanadate pigment) is the only way to hold 1018 for 10–15 years, and we quote outdoor 1018 in those systems only. Substrate DX51D+Z100 for indoor equipment, Z140–Z275 outdoors; heavier gauges (0.80–1.2 mm) are S250GD for structural guardrails. We keep a small stock of 0.50–0.70 mm PE and produce guardrail and protector profiles from 1018 coil on our roll-forming and folding lines.
Colour data
| RAL code | Name | Approx. hex | Light reflectance (LRV) | Gloss (60°) | Colour tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAL 1018 | Zinc yellow / Zinkgelb | #F8F32B | ≈ 55 % | 30–40 semi-gloss; 60+ high-gloss for signage | ΔE ≤ 1.5 (bright yellows: wider mill tolerance) |
Paint system and pigment choice
| System | Pigment | Indoor life | Outdoor life | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PE polyester, organic pigment | organic | 15+ yr | 3–7 yr | stock; indoor equipment |
| PE polyester, inorganic pigment | oxide / bismuth vanadate | 15+ yr | 8–12 yr | to order |
| HDP, inorganic | inorganic | — | 15–20 yr | roofs, signage |
| PVDF, inorganic | inorganic | — | 20–25 yr | branding, façades; 10 t |
Yellow is the least light-fast colour family: PE for indoor safety equipment only; HDP or PVDF with inorganic pigments outdoors, and expect a slightly higher colour tolerance (ΔE ≤ 1.5) between batches.
Safety-yellow applications and gauges
| Product | Gauge | Substrate grade | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warehouse guardrail and mezzanine edge barrier | 1.0–1.2 mm | S250GD+Z140 | PE (indoor) |
| Column, rack and corner protectors | 0.8–1.0 mm | S250GD+Z100 | PE |
| Machine guards and enclosures | 0.7–1.0 mm | DX51D+Z100 | PE |
| Forklift-lane and pedestrian barriers | 1.0–1.2 mm | S250GD+Z140 | PE / HDP |
| Site and road sign blanks | 0.8–1.0 mm | DX51D+Z140 | high-gloss PE / PVDF |
| Branded roofing, fascia and cladding | 0.5–0.6 mm | DX51D+Z140–Z275 | HDP / PVDF |
Black chevron marking (RAL 9005) is applied by the fabricator on the yellow base; two-colour coil is not stocked.
Thickness range and stock sizes
| Thickness | Widths × lengths | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| 0.50–0.70 mm | 1 250 mm coil; sheet to 3 000 mm | small stock — PE |
| 0.80–1.20 mm | 1 250 mm coil; sheet to 3 000 mm | to order 3–5 weeks — PE / HDP |
| PVDF outdoor | 0.50–0.80 mm | to order 4–6 weeks, 10 t |
| Slit strip for guardrail profiles | 1.0–1.2 × 150–400 mm | slit from order coil |
Weight per m² and per sheet
| Thickness | kg/m² | 1 000 × 2 000 (kg) | 1 250 × 2 500 (kg) | 1 500 × 3 000 (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 mm | 4.03 | 8.1 | 12.6 | 18.1 |
| 0.6 mm | 4.81 | 9.6 | 15.0 | 21.6 |
| 0.7 mm | 5.60 | 11.2 | 17.5 | 25.2 |
| 0.8 mm | 6.38 | 12.8 | 19.9 | 28.7 |
| 1 mm | 7.95 | 15.9 | 24.8 | 35.8 |
| 1.2 mm | 9.52 | 19.0 | 29.8 | 42.8 |
Steel at 7.85 kg/dm³ plus Z100 zinc and 25/7 µm paint (≈ 0.10 kg/m²); thickness is the total coated thickness (TCT) unless bare metal (BMT) is specified.
Forming, cutting and handling
Heavier 1018 (0.8–1.2 mm) folds at 1.5–2 × t and roll-forms into guardrail C- and hat-sections; PE systems tolerate T-bend ≤ 2T, PVDF ≤ 1T. Mechanical cutting only; punched holes and cut edges are protected by the zinc and touched up with 1018 paint. Yellow shows grease and metal dust — keep the film on during fabrication. Where guardrails are bolted, use zinc-flake or yellow-passivated fasteners; black chevron stripes are applied with 9005 tape or paint after installation.
Where it is used
- Warehouse guardrails, mezzanine edge and rack-end protection
- Column, corner and bollard protectors
- Machine guards, enclosures and safety covers
- Site, road and warehouse sign blanks
- Branded roofs, fascias, kiosks and rental-equipment bodies
- Playground, sports and leisure structures
RAL 1018 vs 1023 vs 1003
RAL 1023 traffic yellow is warmer and more orange (road marking, Post yellow), RAL 1003 signal yellow warmer still; 1018 is the cooler, greener safety yellow that matches ISO 3864 hazard marking and most guardrail systems. For the base colour of a building with yellow branding stripes, most projects use RAL 9002 or RAL 7016 with 1018 details.
Price
Bright yellows carry the highest colour premium on the PPGI list (about 40 USD/t for PE, more for HDP/PVDF with inorganic pigments) and heavier gauges are priced separately; the bands below are indicative FOB Istanbul.
Bands from our weekly export list (September 2026), FOB Istanbul, full-container quantities, excluding freight and certificates. Firm price per project on RFQ within one working day.
Export and packing
RAL 1018 PPGI sheet ships as coil — eye-to-sky on a wooden cradle, 5–25 t per coil, VCI paper and steel strapping — or as cut sheet on skids of 2–3 t with paper interleaving and edge protectors. A 20' takes one coil up to 20 t; a 40' HC two coils or 24 t of sheet. HS 7210 / 7209 / 7208 by product.
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| MOQ | 3 t stock colour; 10 t for a special colour or PVDF |
| Incoterms | FOB Istanbul · CIF / CFR Gulf, Africa · DAP EU, Balkans, Iraq, Caucasus · DAP Aktau |
| Lead time | Stock colours 0.40–0.70 mm: 3–7 working days; other gauges and systems 3–5 weeks |
| Packing | Coils 3–6 t on cradles with film; heavy-gauge sheet and sign blanks on skids ≤ 2 t with paper interleaving and corner boards |
| Container / truck | 20' ≈ 18 t; 40' HC ≈ 24 t of sheet |
| Documents | Invoice, packing list, EN 10204 3.1 (3.2 on request), certificate of origin; SASO / SONCAP / PVoC on request |
| Payment | 30% advance, balance against B/L copy; L/C at sight for orders above 100 t |
Certificates and testing
Documentation for RAL 1018 PPGI sheet: EN 10204 3.1 mill certificate as standard (heat number, analysis, tensile, Charpy, condition); 3.2 with an independent inspector, EN 10160 UT reports and additional low-temperature Charpy tests are available on plates above 8 mm at order.
How to order
Specify RAL 1018, thickness, width or slit strip, coil or sheet length, indoor or outdoor use (system: PE / HDP / PVDF), zinc class, substrate grade (DX51D / S250GD for guardrails), gloss, film and quantity.
Standards
- EN 10169 — continuously organic-coated (coil-coated) steel
- EN 10346 — DX51D+Z substrate
- RAL 841-GL colour register
- EN 13523 (ECCA) test methods; EN 10204 3.1
Grades
Grade data sheets (chemistry, mechanicals, equivalents) are on our reference site: DX51D · S250GD · DX52D
Frequently asked questions
What colour is RAL 1018?
Zinc yellow — a bright, slightly greenish safety yellow, the RAL closest to ISO 3864 hazard yellow, used for guardrails, protectors, machine guards and signage.
Does yellow PPGI fade?
Yellows are the least light-fast colours: standard PE is for indoor use; outdoors specify HDP or PVDF with inorganic pigments for 10–15+ years of colour.
RAL 1018 or RAL 1023?
1023 traffic yellow is warmer and more orange; 1018 is cooler and greener and is the safety-equipment standard. Match the existing system.
What gauge for warehouse guardrails?
1.0–1.2 mm on an S250GD+Z140 substrate for roll-formed barrier rails and posts; 0.8–1.0 mm for protectors and guards.
Is RAL 1018 in stock?
A small stock of 0.50–0.70 mm PE; heavier gauges and outdoor systems are made to order in 3–6 weeks (10 t for PVDF).