Why Stainless Steel Costs More?

A Manufacturer for Stainless Steel Faucets & Fittings, Commercial Catering Accessories

WHY STAINLESS STEEL COSTS MORE?

l Stainless steel is more expensive to produce because of the addition of the variety of alloying elements, such as iron, chromium, nickel, manganese and copper. Manufacturers also add about 10% chromium to the steel as an added agent to provide corrosion resistance.

l Stainless steel is difficult to cast and machine. It would require manufacturers to add expensive new machines (swaging and crimping machines) to produce.The decision to go to stainless could reduce output by half or more depending on the technology and tooling selected.

l Stainless steel on the other hand is not easily solderable.The manufacturer must break down it`s oxide layer for stainless steel welding.And so complex geometries are required to be fabricated in order maintain water tight connections.

l Stainless steel fixtures are used only where stamping is more in product manufacturing process and less machining.So the cost of a Stainless steel plumbing fixture will be 3 times that of brass fixture.

A lead pipe can be easily scratched with a key Brass fitting will be corroded in hard water

Unlike stainless steel may only be carried out by specialist companies, brass is an easy to fabricate material by many methods, but in addition to Copper and Zinc, historically Brass contained large amounts of Lead (2.5–3.7% for C36000 Free cutting Brass). This makes fabrication by machining quite easy and thus quite inexpensive.

Brass is easily solderable and easy to make slip joint because it is a relatively soft and ductile material. There are many rough manufacturing methods used to create brass hardware, including wrought, forged, cast, and die-cut processes which are actually not good for environment.

CONCLUSION:

There are a lot of cheaper material options on the market, but their lower price point often correlates with their lower quality.

The durability and ease of maintenance of stainless steel provides long-term performance with a minimum of downtime and cost associated with maintenance, which will more than compensate for the sometimes higher initial purchasing costs.

Stainless steel is, in fact, most often the least expensive choice in the grand scheme of things and worth the cost.