Quoted unit prices on Made-in-China.com for sand-cast parts in June 2026 span roughly US$0.80–10.50 per piece, with iron/brass gravity castings at the floor (US$0.80–1.70/pc, 1-pc MOQ) and tight-tolerance small brass sand-cast parts commanding US$7.58–8.89/pc (2-pc MOQ) [S1][S2].
The cost driver is rarely the sand casting mold itself — it is the alloy poured, the dimensional window, and the order volume. Resin-sand machine-tool castings (e.g. bed bodies, columns) cluster at US$3.00–6.00/pc with 1-pc MOQ, while copper-alloy marine valve bodies with sand + investment fallback sit at US$10.10–10.50/pc with 100-pc MOQ [S1][S2].
Price Bands by Alloy and Process Route
Ferrous gravity sand casting on the same B2B channel quotes US$3.00–6.00 per piece for resin-sand machine-tool castings, a band that reflects pattern cost amortisation over low-MOQ runs rather than material cost [S1]. Non-ferrous options sit on either side of that band: iron/brass/zinc gravity sand casting lists at US$0.80–1.70/pc, the lowest published tier in the June 2026 snapshot, while copper/bronze/brass marine-grade castings price at US$10.10–10.50/pc under a 100-pc MOQ [S2].
Tight-tolerance small brass parts — explicitly marketed as "micro tolerance control sand-cast molded parts" — quote US$7.58–8.89/pc at 2-pc MOQ, a 5–8× premium over gravity iron/brass at the same MOQ, and a useful proxy for the cost of adding process control (shake-out, shot-blast, machinability allowance) on top of base casting mold work [S2].
MOQ and Tooling Cost Levers
MOQ on the June 2026 listings is unusually low for foundry work: 1-piece MOQ appears on the US$0.80–1.70 iron/brass gravity line and on the US$3.00–6.00 resin-sand machine-tool line, and 2-piece MOQ on the tight-tolerance brass parts [S1][S2]. The 100-pc MOQ on the marine copper/bronze/brass listing is the only elevated threshold in the snapshot, and it coincides with the highest unit price band, suggesting the seller is amortising pattern cost plus alloy premium (copper, tin) across a longer run [S2].
Pattern (wooden / resin / aluminium) and mold base work is normally billed separately from the per-piece price, but on these low-MOQ listings it is folded into the unit quote.
Resin-Sand vs Green-Sand: Where the Money Goes
Resin-sand (furan / phenolic resin bonded) machine-tool castings quote at US$3.00–6.00/pc on the June 2026 Made-in-China listings, a 4–7× premium over the US$0.80–1.70 iron/brass gravity-sand line, reflecting resin binder cost, controlled hardness (typically 70–85 shore), and better surface finish (Ra 12.5–25 μm achievable on well-controlled resin-sand lines) [S1][S2].
Green-sand (clay-bonded) gravity casting remains the lowest-cost route, but it carries wider dimensional tolerance (ISO 8062 CT-10 to CT-12 typical, ≈ ±1.0–2.0 mm on a 200–500 mm part) and rougher surface (Ra 25–50 μm). Where buyers need CT-7 to CT-9 (≈ ±0.3–0.6 mm) and surface under Ra 25 μm, resin-sand is the price-of-entry on the June 2026 quotations [S1][S2]. Buyers pairing sand-cast bodies with a sand cooler loop should budget for the cooler skid as a separate line, not bundled in the per-piece price.
Comparison: Sand Casting Routes on Cost, Tolerance and MOQ
Three sand-casting routes are directly comparable on the June 2026 data: green-sand iron/brass gravity (US$0.80–1.70/pc, 1-pc MOQ, CT-10 to CT-12, Ra 25–50 μm), resin-sand machine-tool casting (US$3.00–6.00/pc, 1-pc MOQ, CT-7 to CT-9, Ra 12.5–25 μm), and tight-tolerance small brass sand-cast parts (US$7.58–8.89/pc, 2-pc MOQ, micro-tolerance control claimed) [S1][S2].
Decision rule for procurement: pick green-sand for prototype runs under 50 pieces and tolerance windows wider than ±1.0 mm; pick resin-sand for 1–500 piece runs needing CT-8 or better and surface under Ra 25 μm; pick tight-tolerance brass or copper-alloy sand-cast only when machinability allowance plus the 5–8× cost premium is justified by downstream machining savings [S1][S2]. For a broader side-by-side of mold cost lines, see Sand Casting Mold vs Mold Base: Spec, Sourcing and Cost Bands Compared.
Hidden Cost Lines Buyers Miss
Lead time is not published on the June 2026 listings, but Chinese foundry practice for resin-sand machine-tool castings is 25–40 days for sample + 20–30 days per batch, with green-sand 5–10 days faster. Buyers who need linear guide or crossed-roller guide ways integrated into a sand-cast bed should request machined reference surfaces as an explicit line item, not assume they fall inside the per-piece quote.
When Sand Casting Is and Is Not the Right Route
Sand casting is the right route when part weight exceeds ~20 kg, when the alloy is cast iron, carbon steel, or copper alloy, when internal geometry allows draft angles ≥ 1°, and when production volume is 1–2,000 pieces per year. It is the wrong route when wall thickness drops below 3 mm (invest casting wins), when lot size exceeds ~5,000 pieces per year and die casting becomes cheaper per piece, or when as-cast surface must hold under Ra 6.3 μm (requires investment or machining) [S1][S2].
For machine-tool builders pairing sand-cast beds with tool and die steel ways, the published per-piece price is a starting point — the all-in landed cost on a 200–500 mm bed body typically runs 1.6–2.2× the published unit price once tooling, heat treatment, rough machining, and inspection are folded in.
Signals to Track in the Next Quoting Window
Two trackable signals for the next 30–60 days: (1) copper and brass price movement, which directly drives the US$7.58–10.50/pc band — watch LME 3-month copper and SHFE brass for a ±10% shift that will reset that band; (2) whether any June 2026 listing begins publishing explicit pattern/MOQ discount curves, which would mark a move toward transparent all-in pricing on the channel [S1][S2].