No black box
Method and market data
A should-cost is what a well-run foundry in the chosen country needs to charge for your part. CastCalc builds it the way a foundry cost engineer does, block by block, with current market prices.
Market data
- Metal and alloy prices from recognised market indices
- Industrial electricity for 22 countries
- Labour costs per country, reviewed regularly
- Monthly update, checked by a foundry engineer
Free in every account: the Market Index with the monthly cost of a standard iron casting (GJL 150, GJS 400-15 and GJS 600-3 in 5 countries) and 15 raw material prices, plus the directory of 158 European iron foundries.
- FeMn (ferromanganese)
- FeSi 75 (ferrosilicon)
- Base iron
Monthly prices Jan–Sep 2026, from the CastCalc Market Index (3 of 15 raw materials shown).
The 8 cost blocks
Every should-cost is split into the same 8 blocks, so you can compare it line by line with a supplier's breakdown.
| Cost block | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Metal | The charge materials and alloys for your grade. |
| Sand, cores & consumables | Moulding sand, cores, coatings, filters, feeders and other consumables used per mould. |
| Energy | Electricity for melting and for running the plant. |
| Labour | The moulding, pouring and finishing work on each casting. |
| Heat treatment | Treatment of the casting, only when the part needs it. |
| Equipment | The moulding line and pattern equipment the part uses. |
| Overhead | Plant overhead, quality and logistics. |
| Profit | The foundry's margin. |
Your inputs, your supplier
Describe the part (weight, grade, moulding line, complexity, cores, quantity) and the foundry's country. Advanced settings let you mirror a specific supplier's setup and test what their quote assumes.
Accuracy
In a customer case in Italy the CastCalc benchmark landed within 5% of actual supplier pricing. Accuracy depends on how well the inputs describe the part and the foundry. Every result shows the month of its data.