Aquatic Marine Stores Company manufactures special metallic materials and decorative fittings for luxury yachts that require highly skilled labor. Aquatic uses standard costs to prepare its flexible budget. For the first quarter of the year, direct materials and direct labor standards for one of their popular products were as follows:

Direct materials: $3$ pounds per unit; $$6$ per pound

Direct labor: $4$ hours per unit; $$17$ per hour

During the first quarter, Aquatic produced $1,000$ units of this product. Actual direct materials and direct labor costs were $$66,000$ and $$325,000,$ respectively.

For the purpose of preparing the flexible budget, calculate the total standard direct materials cost at a production volume of $1,000$ units.

A$.$ $$3,000$

B$.$ $$18,000$

C$.$ $$6,000$

D$.$ $$66,000$