A Complete Breakdown of Titanium Cup Costs (Part 2)

Every cup has a story, and life has its warmth. Hello everyone, welcome back to "Dong Dong's Cup Talk" The retail prices of titanium cups in the current market vary dramatically, which has caused confusion for many consumers. https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlToday, we continue our detailed analysis of the costs behind titanium cups. Through this sharing, we hope to help everyone make more rational and customer-oriented choices when selecting titanium cups.

2. Production Process: The Real Cost Dividing Line

Route A: Top-Tier Craftsmanship – Spinning and Deep Drawing Integrated Forming

Representative Brands: https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlJapan's Tiger "Mugravity" Titanium Series, ZOJIRUSHI high-end line

Process Details and Costs:

Spinning and Deep Drawing: Uses Japan's Nomura Seiki CNC spinning machines to thin titanium sheets in 3-4 stages at 400-500°C.

Intermediate Steps: Requires 2-3 rounds of vacuum annealing (each costing approximately ¥2-3).

Yield Rate: Only 70%, https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlwith 30% of the material becoming scrap.

Seamless Design: The entire cup body has no welding seams.

Benefit: Eliminates the risk of intergranular corrosion at weld points.

Equipment Investment: A single spinning machine with dedicated molds costs about ¥500,000 - 1,000,000.

Inner Wall Treatment: Electro-polished to Ra < 0.2μm (mirror-grade finish).

Cost: Approximately ¥8-20 per piece.

Significance: https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlProvides an extremely smooth surface, making it difficult for milk residues or stains to adhere.

Per-Unit Cost Calculation (350ml Cup Body):

TA1 Titanium Material: ¥30-50

Spinning + Annealing: ¥15-25

Electro-polishing: ¥10-15

Cup Body Cost Alone: https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlAlready reaches ¥65–115.

Route B: Mainstream Process – Stamping and Welding

Representative: Most domestic mid-range Chinese brands.

Process Characteristics:

The cup body is stamped into 2-3 segments and then joined using TIG (Argon) welding.

Welds require grinding and polishing, which may compromise the continuity of the oxide layer.

Yield Rate: 85%, with relatively high material utilization.

Significant Cost Advantage:

Total Cup Body Cost: https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlApproximately ¥40-65

This is 20-30% lower than the spinning process.

Route C: Low-Cost Process – Simplifying Everything

Market Example: https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlTeardown analysis of a "Pure Titanium" insulated cup sold for ¥128 on an e-commerce platform.

Testing Findings (Guangdong Provincial Quality Inspection Institute Report):

Material: Actually Ti-3Al-2.5V (a titanium alloy), not pure titanium.

Aluminum content reaches 2.8%, Vanadium content 2.3%.

Cost is 30% lower than TA1-grade titanium.

Welding: Ordinary manual TIG welding. https://www.umbottle.com/ProductsDetail-VB-10487.htmlVisible oxidation discoloration at the weld seam indicates insufficient gas protection during welding.

Inner Wall: Only mechanical polishing, with a roughness of Ra > 1.6μm.

Prone to accumulation of limescale and milk residues.