A flanged cast-steel basket strainer sized 2″–16″ in ANSI 150 with a 40-mesh / 400-micron 304 stainless screen lists in a US$250–5,000 per-piece band on Chinese B2B portals, while lower-pressure cast-iron variants drop to roughly US$21 per piece at MOQ [S3][S4].
Mesh count, body material and pressure class are the three line items that move the line-item price by 5×–20× within the same nominal size; understanding that lever set is what separates a defensible RFQ from a quote-comparison exercise. Cost of a strainer is also dominated by body casting, machining, mesh and flange drilling — labour is a secondary driver, and freight (sea FOB vs air) can equal 8–15% of unit value on 16″ pieces [S4][S6].
What a "Basket Strainer" Actually Is in This Price Guide
Industrial basket strainers are inline filtration housings with a removable perforated or mesh basket, specified for liquid service where the dirt-holding capacity of a Y-strainer is insufficient basket strainer [S3].
The reference build used in the cast-steel segment is a flanged body to ASME B16.5, face-to-face to ASME B16.10, tested to API 598, and rated for ASME B16.34 pressure-temperature envelopes [S3]. The standard product range stops at 16″ NB and 150LB / PN10–16 because higher classes jump into fabricated body construction with a corresponding 1.6×–2.2× price uplift [S3].
Price Bands by Size, Material and Mesh
On Made-in-China.com, audited suppliers in mid-2026 quote a Shandong cast-steel ANSI 150 basket strainer at US$250.00–5,000.00 per piece (MOQ 1 pc), with a stainless commercial-grade kitchen variant listed at US$17.50–108.00 per 30-piece pack from Jiangmen Pengjiang District [S4]. A separate XHVAL specification puts a 2″–16″ cast-steel 150LB unit with 304SS / 40-mesh screen into the same industrial envelope [S3].
Anchor prices seen on the marketplace for cross-reference:
- Cast-steel ANSI 150, flanged, 304SS 40-mesh: US$250–5,000 / pc (size-driven spread) [S3][S4].<br />- Cast-iron / carbon-steel light commercial: from US$17.50 / 30 pcs (MOQ 30) [S4].<br />- Replacement pump strainer basket (Hayward EcoStar): US$15.00 + US$45.13 freight on eBay [S2].<br />- Consumer / decorative basket strainer (Designer Collection DCSBS-WHT): US$35.95 retail [S5].<br />- Antique silver tea-strainer basket: US$125.00 [S1].
The 250× spread between US$21 and US$5,000 is a function of nominal size (2″ vs 16″ drives casting mass roughly 10×), pressure class (150LB vs 300LB roughly doubles body weight), body material (cast iron vs cast steel vs 304/316 SS), and mesh specification (perforated plate vs woven wire vs sintered) [S3][S4].
Selection Criteria: Matching Spec to Service
Selection criteria for a process engineer: (1) line size and flow, (2) design pressure and temperature, (3) particulate load and target micron rating, (4) cleaning frequency, and (5) wetted-material compatibility with the process fluid [S3].
For a 2″–16″ line at 150LB with a 40-mesh (400 µm) screen, the cast-steel 150LB basket strainer above is a common default; for sub-2″ lines or low-pressure water service, a Y-strainer at one-third the price is often the right call [S3]. Where the service is steam, the boundary shifts — see the comparison piece on basket strainer vs steam separator for the misapplication traps.
Cost Levers Buyers Actually Control
Five levers move the quoted price: (a) body material (cast iron vs carbon steel vs 304/316 SS — roughly 1× / 1.4× / 2.2×), (b) mesh count and aperture (perforated vs 40-mesh vs 100-mesh — 1× / 1.3× / 1.6× on the screen sub-assembly), (c) pressure class (150LB vs 300LB — body mass and test step-up), (d) end connection (flanged RF vs butt-weld BW — machining time), and (e) certifications (NACE MR0175 adds documented material traceability and ~5–10% premium) [S3].
MOQ is a sixth lever: dropping MOQ from 30 to 1 piece on the same product can lift unit price by 20–40% on Made-in-China listings [S4]. Freight, dominated by 16″ cast-steel bodies, often moves the landed price more than the screen choice — air freight is uncompetitive above 8″ and sea FOB is the default for industrial orders [S4][S6].
Options Comparison Across the Main Types
Comparison across the four common build options a buyer will see in an RFQ, lined up against the four criteria that matter at the quote stage: [S1]
| Build option | Approx. 4″ price (US$) | Pressure class | Wetted material | Typical service |<br />| Cast-iron simplex, PN10/16 | 60–150 | 150LB | Cast iron + mesh | Water, HVAC |<br />| Cast-steel simplex, 150LB RF | 250–800 | 150LB | WCB + 304SS mesh | Petrochem, general process |<br />| Cast-steel duplex (300LB) | 700–1,800 | 300LB | WCB + 316SS mesh | Higher-pressure hydrocarbon |<br />| All-316SS simplex, 150LB | 900–2,500 | 150LB | 316/316L | Corrosive / pharma / food
All four share the same API 598 hydrostatic test envelope, but only the 300LB and all-SS builds will carry documented NACE MR0175 compliance for sour service [S3]. The simplex 150LB cast-steel is the workhorse — over half of industrial basket-strainer RFQs by unit count on Chinese B2B portals sit in this band [S4][S6].
Standards, Documentation and Hidden Cost
Reference standard chain for a flanged industrial basket strainer: ASME B16.34 (design), ASME B16.5 (flanges), ASME B16.10 (face-to-face), API 598 (pressure test), API 607 (fire-safe where applicable), and NACE MR0175 / MR0103 for sour service [S3]. Material certificates to EN 10204 3.1 are the expected baseline; 3.2 with third-party witness adds inspection cost and lead time [S3].
A defensible RFQ should call out at minimum: size, pressure class, body & screen material, mesh/micron, end connection, test standard, material certificate level, and NACE requirement. The cheapest way to lose a quote comparison is to omit mesh specification — vendors will default to the cheapest screen and the line item gap will be hidden in the screen cost [S3][S4].
Who This Guide Is For — and Who It Is Not
This guide is for procurement engineers and process engineers sizing 2″–16″ industrial basket strainers in ANSI 150 / PN10–16 builds with woven-wire or perforated screens [S3]. It is not for sanitary / 3-A dairy builds, high-pressure 600LB+ pipeline service, or any application requiring ASME U-stamp / U3 stamp pressure-boundary certification.
It is also not a fit for the consumer "basket strainer" category (kitchen sink / decorative), which is a separate SKU at US$17.50–125 retail and shares only the name [S1][S4][S5]. Mixing the two on a search-driven quote is the single biggest reason a process-engineering RFQ comes back at the wrong number.
Track these three signals over the next quarter for any size-and-class specific re-quote: LME carbon-steel and stainless scrap indices (drives body-material line items), US$–RMB exchange rate (drives FOB China unit price), and freight rate indices on the CN→US and CN→EU lanes (drives 16″ landed price). A 5–10% move in any one will typically move a 4″ 150LB cast-steel unit by 3–6% in either direction [S4][S6].
For component-level specifications, see linear guide.