As the importance of enhancing overall fire safety standards in buildings has grown globally, so has the demand for passive fire protection systems. However, this increase in demand has also led to intense market competition, making advanced and reliable fire safety systems and products crucial for achieving commercial success. With its abundant raw materials and low production costs, China has become the leading manufacturer of passive fire protection products worldwide. Procuring suitable fire-resistant boards in China is one of the key strategies for success in this industry. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll provide you with valuable insights into the entire import process, from selecting profitable products to arranging shipments, making it easy for you to navigate this competitive market.
1. Budget Considerations
(1) If you are an importer
As an importer, managing the supply chain is crucial. You’ll need to deal with Chinese manufacturers or trading companies and purchase products in bulk. It’s essential to negotiate the lowest possible price, as even a 10% difference can amount to significant savings, especially when buying in large quantities, such as 1,000 square meters.
If you’re considering launching your own brand, suppliers will be more willing to help you customize your packaging for your branded products when purchasing in large volumes.
For bulky, low-value products like fire resistant boards, sea freight is the most cost-effective shipping option, particularly if immediate restocking is not required. Generally, shipping more than two cubic meters of goods via sea freight is cost-effective. For example, shipping fire resistant boards from China to a US Amazon FBA center typically takes 35 days and costs around $500. If you opt for air freight, it would cost over $2,000 and take seven days for delivery, significantly reducing your profit margin.
In summary, as an importer, you should be prepared to invest at least $10,000 to purchase boards from Chinese manufacturers or other suppliers and ship them via sea freight.
Our company specializes in the production and sales of passive fire protection products. We can not only provide our unique products but also assist you in finding other complementary suppliers, monitoring production, ensuring quality control, and arranging shipments to Amazon warehouses or your desired address.
(2) If you are a retailer
As a retailer, you may run a construction materials store or a BBQ grill shop, focusing on serving your local community. You might need to purchase fire resistant boards as equipment accessories or essential materials for DIY projects. You can find solutions in China to serve your needs, such as our company’s minimum order quantity (MOQ) of only 1m3 for standard boards. If you have specific requirements, we can even provide customized machining services and send products directly to you from China via China Post e-packets, which are very affordable. However, delivery to your customers will take approximately 10 to 20 days.
Under this business model, importing goods from China may only require a few hundred dollars. However, you can only place orders for individual items as customers place orders with you, which means you’ll never get the lowest prices. Direct bulk orders from manufacturers could result in wholesale prices 30% to 50% lower.
(3) If you are a contractor
As a contractor, procuring suitable fire resistant boards from China is key to achieving good returns if your project doesn’t specify a product brand. However, the quantity of fire resistant boards required for a single project often doesn’t meet the MOQ required by Chinese suppliers. Our company’s MOQ for a single product is 1m3, but if you need multiple products, we can provide a one-stop solution for producing and procuring related products, significantly reducing your costs.
We typically recommend using sea freight for transportation, as initiating the purchase 30-50 days in advance can save you a considerable amount on shipping costs.
If we establish a long-term partnership, you can rest assured about the pricing. As a company with extensive experience in producing and selling fire-resistant materials in China, we’ll provide you with the most cost-effective solutions. Generally, a budget of $10,000 to $20,000 would be appropriate, depending on the circumstances.
(4) If you are a system provider
As a system provider, you certainly want your developed systems to have unique advantages, making your products more marketable. For example, we helped one of our clients develop an 800kg/m3 density calcium silicate board as the core material for their 3-hour fire resistant system, significantly improving their competitiveness in the local market.
So, how much budget is needed to develop a new product in China? This is a complex question, as different products have varying requirements. Our company has a complete research and development system and a team of professional fire resistant material engineers. We can help you develop unique products at minimal costs, even for free in some cases, with expenses not exceeding a few hundred dollars.
We can also support you with further small-batch customized product supplies, which usually require a few thousand dollars. If your product gains local market recognition, we hope to establish a long-term business relationship. However, starting with your idea, a budget of a few hundred or a few thousand dollars should suffice.
2. What fire-resistant boards to import from China for profit
(1) Unique products
At any time, a product with unique performance is key to unlocking your local market. For example, our blst resistant panels has two thickness options, 6mm and 9mm, with both sides laminated with 0.5mm-thick galvanized steel sheets (the thickness can be customized according to your needs). The product is asbestos-free, and its strength can compete with global brands. This sandwich-structured fire resistant panel is mainly used for fire and explosion-proof walls, ceilings, and doors, suitable for modular design. It is very unique, and even in China, few manufacturers produce such products (asbestos-free requirements and 28-day curing time deter many Chinese manufacturers). If you can find a reliable supplier for such products in China, it will undoubtedly help your local market development.
(2) Niche demand in niche markets
Some products have very niche demand, such as our JM-500 product. This is a calcium silicate board with a density of 500 kg/m3, a compressive strength of up to 5 MPa, a flexural strength of up to 3 MPa, and a thermal conductivity at room temperature no higher than 0.079 W/(m·K). This product is most commonly used in areas such as fire-resistant air ducts, cable trays, and boxes that require a fire resistance limit of more than 2 hours. It is a very niche market, and there are very few global manufacturers that can supply similar products, so providing this type of product can generate considerable profits. We have a client who specializes in providing fire protection system solutions for the energy industry, and they purchase this product from us every year, yielding good returns.
(3) Low-value products with high demand
This category mainly includes conventional fire resistant board products such as fiber cement boards. There are many manufacturers in China that produce this type of product. Although our company does not produce these products, we have extensive experience in the research, development, production, and sales of fire protection products and are familiar with every corner of this industry in China. If you have a demand for these products, we can provide suitable products with quality and prices that will satisfy you. These products have lower value but large demand. However, it must be mentioned that there are numerous Chinese manufacturers for this category, and some markets such as North America, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia have become highly competitive. With shipping costs included, it may be challenging to achieve a significant price advantage. If you decide to enter the market with this type of product, based on our experience, the African market is a worthwhile option to consider.
(4) Customized products
Our company has strong research and development capabilities and is always enthusiastic about helping clients develop customized products to meet the needs of their local markets. We provide technical support in aspects such as raw material formulation, reinforcing fibers, and curing processes to help bring your ideas to life. If you have significant influence in your local market, I believe this is the most profitable approach. We had a client who wanted their fire resistant wall system to be lighter, so we developed a 800 kg/m3 density calcium silicate fire resistant board for them. This new product is 20% lighter than the conventional 1000 kg/m3 product without compromising other performance characteristics, which quickly helped them penetrate their local market and achieve good economic returns.
3. Before importing from China, how to conduct product research
(1) How to choose a good product
In the previous section, we mentioned some profitable fire resistant board products, but choosing the right product still requires your own research. Here are four principles that can help you select the right product.
Principle 1: Choose products that are valuable to customers and can meet their needs
Due to differences in fire regulations, different markets have different requirements for fire resistant boards. For example, some markets require water impact tests on fire resistant boards, and many Chinese manufacturers cannot provide boards that meet these test requirements. Our company’s various fire resistant board products can meet such test requirements.
Principle 2: Choose products with high local market prices
Some fire resistant board products have high prices due to reasons such as limited supply sources. In such cases, introducing a similar product with a more reasonable price into the market can generate good sales.
Principle 3: Choose products you can improve
Unless you want to develop a completely new product, it’s common for many stores to sell the same products as yours. Therefore, it’s best to choose products that you can improve to make them stand out from others. For example, you can propose developing a fire resistant board with higher strength at the same density, thus achieving differentiation from local competitors.
Principle 4: Choose products that are already selling in large quantities in the market
If you are just entering the fire protection and insulation industry, it is recommended to start with fire resistant board products that are already selling in large quantities in the local market. Although you may only make a small amount of money by selling such products, it can significantly reduce transaction risks compared to investing in a product that no one buys. You can accumulate import and market experience from the import and sales process of the first product, which will help you sell a completely new product in the future.
(2) Product price research
When you find some fire resistant board products that interest you, and you want to research the wholesale prices of these products from Chinese manufacturers. At this stage, a rough wholesale price is sufficient.
The most direct way to understand the price is to search for the product on Alibaba. Since the product prices are pre-set, you can directly purchase products with the “Ready to Ship” button without spending time communicating with suppliers.
Price can be used as a criterion for analyzing product profits. However, prices are usually set based on small batch wholesale, and if you plan to purchase a large number of products, such as thousands of dollars, the corresponding price may be 10% or 20% lower than the displayed price on the page.
However, many products without stock on Alibaba have unreasonably low prices, which cannot be used as a judgment criterion. The reason they set such low prices is to obtain your inquiries. Get key tips to better use Alibaba.
In the process of selecting products, in addition to roughly understanding the price, another important thing is how to determine the suitable product price range for yourself. It is easy to search on Google for the retail price of a certain type of fire-resistant board in the local market, which is sometimes 6-7 times the price of Chinese suppliers. This requires an analysis of the entire supply chain system from the Chinese factory to the retail end to determine your pricing and profit margin.
(3) Research on transportation solutions
Generally, there are four main transportation methods: international express, air freight, sea freight, and rail transport. As a new importer for small businesses, it is best to choose international express or sea freight, which are suitable options. International express is mainly provided by courier companies such as FedEx and DHL, while sea freight is a transportation method provided by freight forwarders.
Under normal circumstances, international express from China to the United States takes about 7 days. If your package weighs more than 20 kg, the shipping cost per kg is about 6-7 US dollars. However, the cost is usually calculated based on the larger parameter between the actual weight or the volumetric weight of the goods.
Sea freight from China to the United States takes about 30 days, and the overall cost for 1m³ is about 200-300 US dollars on average, including sea freight and the costs incurred during the entire import and export process. In addition, the minimum transport volume for sea freight is usually about 2 cubic meters. Of course, the closer the country is to China, the lower the freight cost and the shorter the transportation time.
4. How to choose the best supplier
(1) There’s a reason for low prices
Undoubtedly, price is the top priority. However, you cannot simply choose anyone who offers the lowest price. Be aware of the reasons why an attractive price is far lower than others. It could be that their production quality is below average because they use more inexpensive materials (which negatively impact fire resistance). Perhaps the actual product dimensions are smaller, but it’s hard to tell just from the product photos. Or the quote is for overstocked products rather than new ones.
So when you’re comparing prices, figure out why there’s such a big difference and clarify whether you can accept the reason and are willing to pay the price for it.
(2) Obtain samples to assess quality
In addition to price, the quality of samples is the second important factor you can compare among suppliers. Regardless of the supplier’s business background, quotes, or commitments to product quality, you need to have a sample in hand to assess whether they can produce high-quality products.
(3) Good communication is important
Good communication includes responsiveness to customer needs and expertise in industry technology. As a professional fireproof board manufacturing and sales company, our technical team has extensive experience in the manufacture and application of fireproof boards, while our sales team has long been engaged in foreign trade, with rich experience in documentation and order tracking.
(4) Transportation solutions and shipping costs
The best approach is to have a reliable freight forwarder who can help you transport the products from the Chinese supplier to your country/region. If not, you need to evaluate various costs comprehensively. Some suppliers use very low product prices to attract buyers, hoping to profit from charging more for shipping after you place an order rather than from the product itself. Additionally, if the supplier has no experience shipping goods to your country/region, they may get higher shipping quotes from freight forwarders, which will also increase your total cost. Our sales staff have extensive logistics experience, and the freight forwarding companies we cooperate with are very professional. We believe we can provide you with reasonable transportation solutions.
In conclusion, we hope this article can offer some help and increase your confidence in purchasing fireproof boards from China. As a leading Chinese company in the research, development, manufacturing, and sales of fireproof boards, we help customers obtain the best products, ensure product quality, and arrange for door-to-door delivery, making the entire purchasing process more relaxed and secure. If you want to purchase fireproof board products from China, please feel free to contact us.
