Our lead commodity
Kapok is the commodity with the deepest supplier network at our desk, and the stock does not wait for the next harvest. This page carries the grades, packing, and load arithmetic buyers usually ask about before requesting a quotation.
Indonesia grows around seventy per cent of the world's kapok yet ranks thirteenth as an exporter. That gap does not vanish. Most of it is absorbed domestically, and the rest leaves through other countries that re-sort it and sell it on under their own flag.
Pati, Jepara, and several districts in East Java. That is where our suppliers are, and where collection happens before pressing.
China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh buy raw kapok to re-sort. Buying directly from Indonesia removes that layer.
Unlike pepper with its ASTA standard, kapok is judged on foreign matter, moisture, and fibre cleanliness. A physical sample therefore decides more than a grade name does.
Grades
12 per cent maximum. Kapok takes up damp quickly, and a damp bale risks heating inside the container.
Residual seed, pod husk, and twigs. This is what separates clean kapok from raw pod kapok, and it is where the price gap is widest.
Pressed bales of 100 kilograms. The tighter the press, the more fits in one container, and the lower the cost per kilogram.
Loose fibre or pressed bales. For overseas shipment it is almost always pressed bales.
Load economics
This is where a first buyer's arithmetic usually goes wrong. Kapok is extremely light, so a container runs out of room long before it approaches its weight limit. What sets the cost per kilogram is not the tonnage but the cubic metres used.
That is why we recommend 40ft high cube and tightly pressed bales for nearly every kapok shipment. The calculator below uses the same packing figures, so you can compare it against a dense cargo like pepper yourself.
Calculator
Enter your volume and compare a 20ft against a 40ft high cube.
Weight and volume per package are indicative. Once your packing is confirmed we recalculate together with freight.
Common questions
One container. For kapok a 40ft high cube nearly always makes more sense than a 20ft, because the goods are light and space rather than weight sets the cost.
Yes, but the arithmetic changes considerably. Raw pod kapok takes far more space for the same weight, so the cost per kilogram rises. Tell us the end use and we will price both options.
Current stock is ready to load without waiting for the next harvest. For repeat shipments, tell us the schedule you need so collection from suppliers can be arranged earlier.
Yes. Samples are sent before contracting, and the pre-loading quality check later goes into the shipping documents.
Because large buyers are used to buying from hubs that have already re-sorted it. Buying directly from Indonesia removes that layer, provided the grade is agreed at the start.
Start here
Three lines are enough on a first message: the commodity, roughly how much, and your destination port. We reply the same working day.
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