A steel cord conveyor belt price is a band, not a point, and the band is wider in 2026 than most tender documents assume. This guide breaks the number open from the buyer's side: which unit a belt is quoted in and why per-meter comparisons mislead, what actually sits inside the factory cost from cord carcass to cover compound, skim, vulcanising, splice kits, testing, packing and freight, and how ST grade, cord diameter and pitch, cover class and gauge, width and order size each push the unit price up or down. It sets out eight traps that hide behind identical-looking quotations, a twelve-item inquiry sheet to send every supplier, and a whole-life cost method that adds splices, downtime and replacement cycles to the purchase price, with a worked illustrative calculation. It closes with the ranges we see in the market during 2026, the drivers behind them, and how to judge whether an unusually low quotation is an opportunity or a different belt.