Youch! Wax price increases!

[jadefoot]

Hey all,

Last February I had ordered some 55lb bags of Crystal Brite Palm Wax from Swan's Candles, the price at the time was about $70, it's actually a Calwax pillar wax. A couple of days ago I called to re-order and the price had jumped to $84 per bag! That's quite an increase in a short amount of time. Their website hasn't been updated yet but it is indeed $84 now.

They told me that all wax has jumped in price and that this is the first time in years that they have seen parafin match the price of soy wax. I asked why such a sharp increase? From what I was told, part of the trouble is many of the factories in China that produce parafin are polluting too much and the government is starting to crack down on them, they said the factories are running at 50% because of that. Less supply, same demand, up go the prices.

With palm they mentioned the issue may be some of the poor publicity received from companies that were clear cutting forests to attain the crop. Some of those companies may have been shut down and the same problem arises; less supply and same demand. Will the companies that are part of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil try to increase production if this is the case? Hard to say for now.

I'm curious to see if these price increases will start spreading soon. Candlescience and Candlewic seem to be holding steady on their wax prices for the time being, not sure what Peak's prices have done lately.

I would love to hear if anyone has heard anything similar or even just some input on this concern.

[Brad Ford]

... From what I was told, part of the trouble is many of the factories in China that produce parafin are polluting too much and the government is starting to crack down on them, they said the factories are running at 50% because of that. Less supply, same demand, up go the prices....

The Chinese are likely polluting too much - but the govt. doesn't care. You have the Supply/Demand part correct, but it's not because the factories are running at 50%. One of the largest paraffin wax refineries has been shut down for a while and will continue to be for the rest of the year. ONLY in China - they are physically moving the refinery...taking it apart and moving it! Can anyone say cheap labor? So we have a very real shortage of imported paraffin while this is going on. Add the uncertainty of our economic climate - the wax importers are quite risk averse now - therefore not importing the usual amounts. PLUS - 3 wax producers in North America shut down within the last two years - domestic supply is very tight as well. Wax prices are going up for the foreseeable future - plan accordingly.

[IwantItgreen]

PLUS - 3 wax producers in North America shut down within the last two years - domestic supply is very tight as well. Wax prices are going up for the foreseeable future - plan accordingly.

Does this also apply to soy wax? Thanks.

Edited May 5, 2010 by IwantItgreen

[Brad Ford]

Does this also apply to soy wax? Thanks.

Soy wax prices are going to be dictated by crop yield and what ever the latest "Bio"- fuel, product,etc. craze that uses a soy/veggie based oil. If prices or supply of paraffin get further out of balance - you could see people move to soy just out of necessity (rather than choice) - which would put soy prices much in the same boat as paraffin at that point. Hard to tell - just hope for a bumper soy bean crop and things shouldn't be too crazy

[radellaf]

I wonder if the oil spill is going to affect prices, since I expect one way or another the cleanup cost will be passed to consumers, and wax does seem to (slowly) reflect oil prices. I'd always assumed it was refined in the USA but I guess the first letter of IGI should have been a hint.

Has beeswax been affected by the trouble beekeepers are having? I see it for anywhere from $3-8 lb so it's hard to tell.

Is soy really affected by biofuels? Thought that was all corn ethanol. There's biodiesel but thought that was all from oil first used in cooking.

Well I guess I'll just keep an eye out for sales.

[jadefoot]

The Chinese are likely polluting too much - but the govt. doesn't care. You have the Supply/Demand part correct, but it's not because the factories are running at 50%.

These were my thoughts as well when they told me that. The Chinese govt. likely doesn't give a hoot given their track record. My main concern is palm wax, as that is the only wax I use. I spoke with someone at Calwax and they basically just agreed that prices have gone up on just about all waxes. They did mention there were increases that took place between November of last year to February, this could be the delayed fallout from those increases. Let's hope at least for some stability.

[chuck_35550]

Personally, I believe that the current economic climate does not encourage mom and pop businesses that only use small amounts of raw product. I would much rather sell pallets of wax than cases and it would certainly be less headache from all the complaining little guys. By the way Brad, whatever happened to the new wax?

Steve

[radellaf]

Well B2B is easier, but from all the suppliers out there I guess there's good money to be made selling to hobbyists (me) and very small businesses. At $1.70 a lb for slabs, I sure feel like I'm keeping _someone_ in business.

[asheebeans]

I know I went into sticker shock when I purchased my last case of Joywax! That is why I am slowly getting out of candles. I'm tired of the prices fluctuating. You make money, you don't, you have to raise your prices, you lose sales.....it's a neverending battle.

[Bernadette]

This isn't the wax of most of you, but hp gel wax was $1.25 lb last year at this time. Today, it's at $3.75 lb, and rapidly approaching $4.00. Add the cost of shipping onto 55 lbs. or more(to get the lowest price), and the price goes up even more. No wonder people are still trying to find the receipe so they can make their own!:tiptoe:

[Darbla]

I found some old notes of mine on wax prices:

2008 -

Cajun Candles in LA, 60# IGI 4794

$62.40 case + $20.46 ship = $82.86 which comes to $1.38/lb (this was the cheapest for me then)

Alabaster in AL, 55# AstorliteV

$58.30 + $22.10 = $80.40 which comes to $1.46/lb cost for me

Aztec in TN, 60# IGI 4794

$64.80 + $25.38 = $90.18 which comes to $1.50/lb

Lone Star, 60# IGI 4794

$62.40 + $23.87 = $86.27 which comes to $1.44/lb

12/30/09

from Cajun - $111.50 total which comes to $1.86/lb (I didn't not separate shipping)

from Peak - $110.50 total which comes to $1.84/lb

Today - from Cajun

$79.20 case + $34.90 ship = $1.91/lb

Today from Peak - $78.95 case + $43.25 ship = $2.04

When I last checked this in December that Peak price was $77 +change, so it has gone up at least a dollar a case. That shipping is sickening.

Looks like Cajun is back to being the best option for me since Peak went up a bit.

[jonsie]

Thanks for sharing, Darbla. That helps put things in perspective for me. I have to drive to pick up my GW464 and still pay $84 (U.S.) a case (no shipping charges) so that made me feel a tiny, tiny bit better.

[radellaf]

Shipping is truly nuts. 464 50lb, candlescience, is 94 shipped NC to CA, fully half the cost for shipping. Truly if I didn't live within a drive of them I could not do this hobby.

[snewbie]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, Id just thought Id let the OP know(since I cant PM) that the new palm wax from swans is not the same as the old CB palm wax. It has about half of the complexity of crystal structure as the old stuff except for the top exposed to air(in the case of votives). Pillars wont be half as pretty as the old stuff, so hoard what you have.

[snewbie]

Edit: apparently, the wax that Swans was selling up until this last monday was misslabled(I only bought it in 11lb bags). The new wax is crystal brite 5801 PB. It sucks compared to the mystery old wax.

Swan's candles has lost my business for #1 missrepresenting a product, #2 for switching waxes without saying anything, and #3 for not even being willing or able to tell me what exactly the old mystery palm wax was. The only answer I could get was "PF 507". If that means anything to anybody, please let me know, because it is a fantastic wax, and this new stuff is only half as good. Thats not even counting the fact that one of them is half asleep all the time and another one is very rude.

I found another distributer who clearly and correctly tells me EXACTLY what wax they are selling, so I think I'll try them.