Bulk candle wax, straight from the plant

Bulk candle wax is bought by weight, quoted against a specification, and shipped by a plant that can repeat that specification on the next order. Everything else in the conversation — the price per kilogram, the minimum, the lead time — follows from those three things. This page covers what to check before you commit volume, and which base to specify for the candles you are actually making.

POSISION has run its own candle wax plant in Henan, China since 2002, with wax development, fragrance work and batch QC under one roof. Buyers around the world import from us directly, which is why there is no trading layer between the kettle and your port.

What does bulk mean when you buy candle wax?

The word covers a wide range, and that range is where most first conversations go wrong. In this trade bulk usually means one of four things.

• Sample and trial volume. A few kilograms, so you can pour a batch in your own jars before committing.
• Pallet volume. Bagged or cartoned, banded on a pallet, shipped as LCL.
• Full container. A 20-foot or 40-foot load, quoted FOB or CIF depending on the incoterm you work on.
• Contract volume. A repeating monthly quantity held against an agreed specification, which is where the price is usually best.

Ask which of those four a supplier is quoting before you compare numbers. A rate quoted for a trial bag and a rate quoted for a monthly contract are not the same product, even when the wax is.

Which base should you specify?

Candle wax is not one material. The base decides the pour behaviour, the surface, the label claim and the price. The five bases we produce are not interchangeable, and the right one depends on the format you are filling.

• Soy wax at 58 °C. A 100% soy base in fine granules. The default for container candles: it packs dense, pours clean and sets flat. If your range is built on a plant-wax claim, start here. Our bulk soy wax page carries the full specification.
• Sand wax. Natural vegetable wax formed into pearl-like granules. No wick and no melt pool — the pearls warm over a tealight or lamp inside a glass vase, and the vase refills. This is a decor and refill format rather than a lit candle, and it sells twice. See sand wax.
• Coconut and apricot blends. Softer and creamier than soy, with strong glass adhesion and a smooth top. They suit premium container lines and cost more per kilogram. See coconut apricot wax.
• Beeswax. Supplied as pellets in white and yellow grades. The firmest of the bases we carry, which is what makes it work for pillars, tapers and moulded pieces, and as a firming component in a blend. See beeswax pellets.
• Jelly wax. A translucent base for container candles where the look is the product. See jelly wax.

If you are still deciding between formats, the soy, sand and jelly comparison walks through the trade-offs base by base.

What actually drives the price per kilogram?

We do not publish a rate card, because the number moves with the specification. These are the variables that move it.

• Base and grade. Beeswax costs more than soy; a carnauba-palm sand wax grade costs more than the standard pearl.
• Melt point and form. A 58 °C granule and a 52 °C flake are different production runs.
• Packaging. Bag size, carton, pallet configuration, and whether the outer carries your label.
• Volume and cadence. A single pallet and a monthly container are priced differently.
• Incoterm and port. FOB and CIF quotes are not comparable, and neither are two different destination ports.
• Documentation. Any extra testing or paperwork you require is quoted as part of the specification.

A supplier who quotes one number without asking which of those apply is quoting an average, not your order.

What should ship with the batch?

Every batch is checked by our own QC before it leaves the plant, and each one ships with its certificate of analysis. That document is your first gate: check the melt point and the appearance against the sample you approved, batch after batch, not only on the first delivery. Our guide to reading a wax COA explains which lines on the certificate actually matter.

Free samples ship with the COA of the lot they come from, so what you test is production wax rather than a lab special. For orders carrying your label or a custom specification, we run a pre-production sample first: you approve the poured piece, the parameters are locked, and production repeats them.

Factory, trader or marketplace listing?

All three will quote you a price per kilogram. They differ in what happens when something drifts.

• A factory answers for the base itself. Ask who runs the QC and whether the batch record can be seen; a plant that makes the wax can answer both.
• A trader can be efficient for small mixed orders, but the specification passes through an extra party, and so does any corrective action.
• A marketplace listing puts you in front of many suppliers at once, which is useful for price discovery. What it does not tell you is who made the wax, or who answers when a batch does not match. Our comparison of buying direct against buying through a marketplace covers that decision in full.

None of the three is automatically wrong. The question is whether the party quoting you can also fix the problem.

What should you test before committing volume?

Three checks, each of which takes an afternoon with the free sample.

• Pour it in your own vessel. Jars, moulds and vases all change how a wax sets. A flat top in a sample tin is not a promise about your jar.
• Check the melt point against your process. If your kettle runs cool, a higher-melt base will not fully fluidise and the surface will show it.
• Confirm the fragrance load on your own oils. Different scent families behave differently at the same percentage, so record the result for each oil you buy rather than trusting a single number.

Buyers who run the three checks reorder the same specification. Buyers who skip them reorder with corrections.

How do MOQ, samples and ordering work?

MOQ is quoted per project rather than fixed at a tonnage. We size the first order around your pilot run instead of asking you to commit to a full container on day one, and the sample is free with its batch COA. Send the RFQ with the base you are considering, the format you are filling and your monthly volume: you get a reply within 24 hours with pricing, MOQ and lead time.