Friction Stays Benchmarked: SS304 Price Tiers from Zhaoqing, a Softer LME, and the Wenzhou vs. Foshan Hinge Cluster Gap

Friction stays are the most specification-sensitive item in casement window hardware — and also one of the least benchmarked in this series until today. This issue puts three Guangdong suppliers on the table, maps the SS201/SS304 price split, and notes that LME aluminium closed at $3,607.50/t on June 8, pulling back $128 from the June 3–5 peak. For buyers who quoted against peak billet, it matters.

Friction stay prices: three tiers, two materials, one cluster

The dominant manufacturing cluster for friction stays is Zhaoqing (Guangdong), not the broader Foshan/Nanhai belt. Three names control most of the Made-in-China.com volume: Zhaoqing Deweili, Zhaoqing Keyi Metal, and Zhaoqing Kessy Hardware. A fourth supplier, Jiangxi Jin Bai Cheng, handles some lower-premium export runs.

Supplier	Product type	Material	FOB price	MOQ
Zhaoqing Deweili	4-bar 18mm square groove	SS (unspecified)	$0.20–$0.90/pc	500 pcs
Zhaoqing Deweili	32-inch heavy-duty	SS304	$4.00–$4.50/pc	1,000 pcs
Zhaoqing Deweili	18mm arm stay SS304/SS201	SS304 / SS201	$0.26–$0.37/pc	1,000 pcs
Zhaoqing Keyi	22mm square groove, 2-bar	SS304 or SS201	$0.35–$0.85/pc	1,000 pcs
Zhaoqing Keyi	Sliding friction stay	SS304	$0.98–$1.18/pc	3,000 pcs
Zhaoqing Keyi	Top-hung friction stay	SS304	$0.98–$1.65/pc	3,000 pcs
Zhaoqing Keyi	European-standard stopper	SS304	$1.15–$1.85/pc	3,000 pcs
Zhaoqing Kessy	22mm square groove limiter	SS (unspecified)	$0.30–$0.40/pc	1,000 pcs
Jiangxi Jin Bai Cheng	Standard export stay	unspecified	$0.55–$0.57/pc	1,000 pcs
Jiangxi Jin Bai Cheng	Standard export stay	unspecified	$0.88–$1.14/pc	5,000 pcs

Sources: 1 2

Stainless steel 4-bar friction stay hinge for casement window — 4-bar SS304 friction stay from a Zhaoqing supplier — the type behind most of the mid-tier price listings above 1

Three pricing bands emerge from the data above:

Budget tier ($0.20–$0.40/pc, MOQ 500–1,000): Short-arm basic stays, often SS201 or unspecified alloy. Deweili and Kessy compete here. Suitable for UPVC windows where corrosion resistance is provided by the profile, not the hardware.
Mid tier ($0.40–$0.90/pc, MOQ 1,000): 22mm square-groove stays in SS304/SS201 mix. This is where material grade becomes the key price variable — a buyer specifying SS304 explicitly should expect to be quoted at the higher end of the range.
High tier ($0.98–$1.85/pc, MOQ 1,000–3,000): Purpose-built top-hung stays, sliding variants, and European-standard window stoppers. Keyi Metal dominates this segment, and most listings confirm SS304 or SUS304. At 3,000-pc MOQ, this tier effectively filters out trial-order buyers.

One number to hold: the heavy-duty 32-inch SS304 stay at $4.00–$4.50/pc (Deweili, MOQ 1,000). That's the ceiling for standard friction-stay hardware from this cluster — buyers specifying large-format casements for commercial curtain-wall projects should budget accordingly.1

What "SS304" actually means in quotes

Not every listing flagged as SS304 is the same. Keyi Metal's product range makes the distinction explicit: several SKUs list "SS304 or SS201" as a material option, implying the base quote covers SS201 and SS304 carries a surcharge. Buyers requesting CE-compliant hardware for EU/UK fenestration projects should confirm material grade in writing before placing a deposit. The Haoshun Hardware (Gaoyao, Guangdong) range on Alibaba shows SS304 friction stays at $0.94–$2.89/pc at 1,000-pc MOQ — a useful cross-check on the Keyi data.3

LME aluminium: the June 3–5 spike reversed

The previous issue flagged LME cash aluminium at $3,736/t as of June 5, marking a 22% rise from the February low. That spike has since corrected. By June 8 close, LME aluminium settled at $3,607.50/t, down $128 from the peak.4

The five-day sequence shows a clear retracement from the peak:

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The 30-day average as of June 8 sits at $3,604/t, meaning the spot market has effectively snapped back to the month's mean. For hardware buyers, the practical implication is straightforward: FOB quotes received on June 3–5 — when Zhaoqing and Foshan suppliers would have been pricing against $3,720–$3,760 spot — are now above the prevailing billet cost. Buyers with unsigned proformas from that window have negotiating room, particularly on SS304-heavy items like friction stays and die-cast handles.

Wenzhou vs. Zhaoqing: different cluster strengths for hinges

The previous issue covered Foshan/Nanhai for rollers and budget hinges. A separate cluster serves casement hinges at volume: Wenzhou (Zhejiang).

Wenzhou Chunguang Hardware (established 1992, ISO 9001:2000 certified) covers the full accessory range — hinges, handles, multi-point locks, hook locks, rollers, and transmission rods — and exports to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, North America, and South America.5 The key operational difference: Chunguang's stated MOQs on individual hinge styles run as low as 1–3 pieces at negotiated pricing. That is not a practical procurement quantity, but it signals a factory structured around sample-and-approve-first workflows — useful for fabricators speccing a new hinge profile before committing to a container.

Zhejiang Jiansheng Window Control Technology offers aluminium casement hinges at $0.25–$0.63/pc at 100 pcs MOQ, making them one of the lower entry points in the Zhejiang hinge cluster.6 That price range sits below the Foshan mid-tier casement hinge data from Issue 2 ($0.79–$0.90 for Foshan Hooke and YAER HW), which suggests Zhejiang suppliers compete on price at standard specs, while Foshan suppliers tend to compete on OEM customization and finish quality.

The Alibaba sourcing guide confirms this split: Zhejiang's strength is in "high-tolerance hinges and locking mechanisms" based on decades of metalworking heritage, while Foshan leads on full-system aluminium hardware integration.7

For buyers: if the spec is standard European-groove casement hinge at sub-$1/pc, Zhejiang suppliers typically quote lower. If the spec involves custom finish, tight tolerances, or bundled handles-plus-hinges for a curtain-wall project, Foshan/Guangdong suppliers are better positioned.

Small-order access: Xiangsheng (Foshan Nanhai) explicitly accepts

One gap from the memo was Foshan/Nanhai MOQ flexibility post-tariff. Xiangsheng Building Material (located on Tonglin Road, Nanhai National Ecological Industrial Park, Foshan) explicitly states small orders are accepted across friction stays, handles, locks, and sealant.8 With 20+ years in the business and 5 years of OEM experience serving both domestic property developers and international clients, Xiangsheng is oriented toward buyers needing sample quantities or mixed-SKU trial orders — the kind of flexibility that became relevant when tariff-redirected buyers began splitting their China sourcing across multiple smaller runs rather than single large orders.

Their friction stay catalogue (SK001 through SX003+ series) covers European-groove variants for aluminium, PVC, and timber windows, with air-freight/courier capability for fast sample delivery. No published price list exists on the website, but the MOQ posture is clearly "quote on request for small runs."

What to watch this week

June 9, 2026 — Key market signals

Current reference data for friction stay and hinge buyers

LME aluminium close (Jun 8)

$0.00−128.0%from Jun 3–5 peak

Friction stay entry (SS, 500 pc MOQ)

from $0.20/pc

Friction stay SS304 mid-tier (1,000 pc)

from $0.35/pc

Zhejiang casement hinge entry (100 pc MOQ)

from $0.25/pc

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Three signals worth tracking before placing orders:

LME direction: The $3,604 mean is a holding point. If spot continues declining toward $3,500, friction-stay and die-cast handle quotes from Guangdong should soften. If the pullback reverses, the June 3 peak ($3,760 intraday) becomes a resistance level to watch.
SS304 grade verification: Request the test report, not just the product listing. Several MIC listings default to SS201 and list SS304 as an upgrade — that distinction won't appear unless a buyer asks in writing.
Wenzhou hinge sampling: The $0.25–$0.63 entry at 100 pcs from Zhejiang Jiansheng gives European-spec buyers a low-cost way to qualify a Zhejiang hinge supplier alongside their existing Foshan source. At those quantities, the comparison is cost-effective.