The forces required for extrusion after the breakthrough pressure is achieved remains constant throughout the extrusion cycle of the billet. This yields a uniform pattern flow and allows for faster extrusion rates. This is a cost saving advantage over direct extrusion. Lower pressures increases die life, tooling and decrease energy consumption. Other advantages include larger billet sizes, less surface cracking due to lower frictional forces.
Disadvantages are surface defects on the billet propagate to the extruded product.
Because of this problem, this method can not be used for many architectural purposes or anodizing. Many indirect extruded products have to be wire brushed, which increases production costs. Indirect extrusion is not suited for all products. After the extruding is accomplished, the wire is cooled and insulated. The insulation life can be greatly shorten if thermally damaged.