Metal Pricing 3

[Tempe]

Hello everyone,
I’m a would-be materials engineer, and I’m currently working on my capstone project which involves material selection. And, I’m having hard time finding the price per pound of the following alloys:
Stainless steel grade 310
Stainless steel grade 330
Stainless steel grade 446
High-alloy cast steel grade HK
High-alloy cast steel grade HH
I couldn’t find any prices on the internet. I also called a few companies who told me they didn’t have them (are they so hard to get?)
I’d appreciate any help with this matter… even a rough estimate should be fine.
Thank you

 

[MikeHalloran]

There isn't >>>___A____<<< price per pound, or per any unit of measure, for metals. There is a market.

In that market, 'the' price is a myth, because the price you pay depends on whether your distributor has what you want, how much it costs him to go get it for you, how much you are buying, how much it costs him to keep it in inventory for you, the degree of difficulty you present as a customer with certs, traceability, test reports and other paperwork, how badly he wants to get/keep your business, the price of oil, and the phase of the moon.

Oh. Anything with nickel in it is also subject to the vagaries of war in nickel- producing states.

Additionally, large customers can distort a market. Right now, the Chinese are being blamed for upsetting the global stainless market to buy steel to make pocketknives for Wal-Mart, and for upsetting the global structural steel market to make factories to make the pocketknives in, and the global plate market to make ships to ship the pocketknives in one direction and the factory equipment in the other.

Sorry, I don't deal in the metals you seek. I buy steel structurals in truckload and smaller quantities. But I couldn't give you an average price for that, because it varies day to day, and by size and by shape and by popularity, in addition to all the reasons cited above.

If your capstone project is software, I suggest that it include some capability for accepting and tracking the prices you actually pay for the stuff you actually buy in the form you actually buy it in. Then I guess you can include some fudge factors for war and other news stories, petroleum prices, and nickel prices.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[dutchmat]

Roughly you can say:

310S is about two times 316L

330 is about four times 316L

446 should be a cheaper alloy, a ferrite, no nickel, but it's a bitch to manufactor and depending on availibillity, size and form, two to five times the price of 316L

The cast grades depends to much on the product form to give you an answer on that!

Hopes this helps you a bit.

 

[Tempe]

Mike Halloran and dutchmat,
So many thanks to both of you