Who this program is for
Wholesalers buy by the container and sell by the pallet, coil or drum to distributors, electrical shops, installers and smaller importers. Their customers rarely need one size in large depth; they need a spread of sizes and colours, each in a standard pack that is easy to count, store and resell. A wholesale order might combine building wire in five sizes and five colours, flexible cords, LV power cable and solar cable in one shipment. That makes the work less about one cable and more about coordination: matching each line to the right partner plant, standardising packs across plants and loading a mixed container without damage or counting errors.
Lines wholesalers usually buy
- Building wire: 450/750 V single core PVC wire in 1.5 to 10 mm2 and larger, Class 1, 2 or 5, in a full colour set.
- Flexible cords: 300/500 V H05VV-F type cords in 2 to 5 cores, 0.75 to 2.5 mm2.
- LV power cable: 0.6/1 kV Cu/XLPE/PVC multicore in the most common sizes.
- Solar PV cable: H1Z2Z2-K 1x4 and 1x6 mm2 in red and black.
- Aluminium cable: Al/XLPE/PVC for markets where aluminium feeders are accepted.
What the desk prepares
The core document for a wholesale order is a consolidated packing plan, built from one spec sheet per item. Standard packs make the difference between a container that is easy to receive and one that takes days to count.
| Line | Common pack | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Building wire | 100 m coils, shrink-wrapped, cartoned | Common pack; confirmed per order and per market |
| Flexible cords | 100 m coils or small reels | Coil length per your resale pack |
| Solar PV cable | 100 m coils or 500 m wooden drums | Red and black packed and labelled separately |
| LV power cable | Wooden or steel-wood drums, length per drum plan | Drum length limited by drum capacity and weight |
| Cat6 LAN cable | 305 m pull boxes | Cartons stacked and counted by box |
Each pack carries a label with item code, construction, size, colour, length and batch. Carton and drum marks follow your system so your warehouse can book the goods in without opening them. The desk checks counts, lengths, labels and print per item before loading, collects the routine test records for each line and plans the container so that heavy drums sit low and coils are not crushed. See packaging and drums and cable container loading.
MOQ and lead time on mixed orders
Each line keeps its own minimum: plant listings commonly show about 500 m per size for LV power cable, 100 m to 500-2,000 m for PV cable and 50-100 boxes for Cat6. Building wire minimums depend on colour and size and are usually met by a wholesale order. Small quantities of an odd size can sometimes ride with the order at a higher unit price. Lead time for a mixed container is set by the slowest line, typically a drum-packed power cable that needs copper booking, a production slot, routine testing and drums made to order, which typically takes two to four weeks for wooden drums. The desk schedules the faster lines so they finish close to the slowest and do not sit in a warehouse. Everything is confirmed in writing; see MOQ and lead time.
Risks specific to wholesalers
- Short coils. A 100 m coil that measures 90 m erodes trust with every reseller. Random coils are measured or weighed against the reference at inspection.
- Undersized building wire. Price competition at wholesale level pushes conductors down. Conductor resistance against the IEC 60228 limit, for example 7.41 ohm/km for 2.5 mm2 Class 1 or 2 copper, is checked from records and samples.
- Market documents. Some destinations need per-shipment conformity documents, such as KEBS PVoC in Kenya, SONCAP in Nigeria or SABER in Saudi Arabia. The paperwork is planned before loading and confirmed with your importer of record.
- Classification. Mixed containers often span several HS codes such as 8544.49 and 8544.60. Your customs broker confirms the classification.
- Copper timing. Quotes are copper-linked and short-dated; a large order should lock copper when the spec sheet is agreed.
Starting a wholesale order
Send your item list with sizes, colours, packs and quantities, the destination port and any market documents through the quote form. The desk replies with the matched plants per line, reference MOQs and a draft packing plan.