Most PEX enquiries that reach a factory from North Africa are too short to quote properly. “Price for PEX 16mm, 5000 metres” tells the supplier nothing about cross-linking type, wall thickness, oxygen barrier, coil length, print legend or the certification file the buyer will need at the port — and every one of those decides the price. The result is a quotation the importer cannot compare with the next one, because the two suppliers guessed differently. This guide is written the other way round: it sets out what a PEX pipe supplier needs from you, what you should demand back, and how to read the answers.
One framing point before the detail. North Africa is not one market, and treating Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt as a single block is the fastest way to get a sourcing plan wrong: they differ in conformity-assessment regime, in import controls and in how much PEX the market absorbs at all. What is common is structural rather than commercial — PEX is bought mainly as underfloor-heating and sanitary distribution pipe rather than as the main hot-and-cold supply line, so PEX order volumes tend to be smaller than PPR ones. Three consequences follow for a buyer: minimum order quantity often bites harder than unit price; consignments are usually mixed with PPR and brass in one container; and the paperwork gets at least as much scrutiny as the pipe. A supplier who is excellent on price and weak on documents is not a cheaper supplier — the cost simply moves to demurrage. Country-specific requirements are set out in section IV; treat them as a starting point for your own check with the importing agent, because these regimes change.
I. Define the Product Before You Ask for a Price
A PEX quotation is only comparable when both suppliers are pricing the same pipe. Six lines do that work, and they belong in your first message, not the third round of emails.
Cross-linking method. PEX-A, PEX-B and PEX-C describe how the polyethylene chains were cross-linked, and they behave differently on the reel and in the hand. This is the first line of any enquiry because it is the one thing that cannot be adjusted after the extruder is running. WARMHAUS manufactures PEX-B covered pipe for underfloor heating; if your specification calls for a different cross-linking route, say so at the enquiry stage rather than discovering the mismatch at pre-shipment inspection. A supplier who treats the three as interchangeable is telling you something about how closely they control the extrusion.
Dimension and wall. Write it as outside diameter × wall thickness — 16×2.0, not “16mm”. Two pipes sharing an outside diameter but differing in wall carry different pressure ratings, different bore, and materially different weight per metre, which is the number your container plan runs on.
Oxygen barrier. For any closed heating circuit feeding steel or cast-iron components, an oxygen-barrier layer is not optional. State whether you need barrier pipe or plain PEX; they are different products with different tooling, and a supplier quoting the cheaper one against a barrier specification will always look more competitive than they are.
Coil length and packing. Specify metres per coil, whether coils are bagged or shrink-wrapped, and whether you want them palletised. This is a logistics decision, and it is covered in section III.
Print legend. The text printed along the pipe is what an inspector reads first. Confirm which standard references, sizes, batch marking and — for private-label work — which brand name appear on it, because changing this after production means reprinting or rejection.
Compatible fittings. PEX is only as good as its connection. Decide early whether fittings come from the same supplier as the pipe: the pipe-to-manifold interface is where mismatches surface.
A quotation is not a price. It is a description of a product with a number attached — and the description is the part you should be reading.
II. The Supplier Enquiry Table
Use this as the body of your RFQ. Send the same table to every supplier on your shortlist and the replies become genuinely comparable — part of the field will drop out simply because they cannot fill it in. The right-hand column notes why each line changes the commercial answer.
| Enquiry line | What to state or ask | Why it changes the quotation |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-linking type | PEX-A / PEX-B / PEX-C — state which | Different process route; not interchangeable after production |
| Dimension | OD × wall, e.g. 16×2.0 | Sets weight per metre, bore and pressure class |
| Oxygen barrier | Barrier or non-barrier | Different product and tooling; large price gap |
| Coil length | Metres per coil; bagged or wrapped | Drives coil diameter, cartons and container fill |
| Annual / first volume | Metres per size, and call-off pattern | Decides tooling of the production slot and price band |
| Print legend | Standard refs, sizes, batch, brand name | Fixed at extrusion; costly to change afterwards |
| Certification file | Which certificates, in which name | Determines what clears customs and what wins tenders |
| Destination market experience | Have you shipped to this country, under which conformity arrangement | Registration and origin inspection can sit with the manufacturer — see section IV |
| Fittings and manifold | Same supplier or separate | Interface compatibility; number of supplier accounts |
| MOQ | Per size or per order | Often the real constraint on a first PEX order |
| Lead time | Working days from confirmed order | Sets your stock cover and site commitments |
This table is a general sourcing framework, not a WARMHAUS specification. Product dimensions, packing and pressure classes vary between manufacturers — always confirm every line against the technical datasheet of the pipe you are actually buying.
Two lines deserve special attention here. MOQ first: a distributor opening a PEX line rarely wants a full container of one size — they want a trial quantity across two or three sizes, sold through, then repeated. A per-size minimum turns that sensible plan into dead stock. WARMHAUS operates with no MOQ, so a first order can be a market test rather than a bet. Lead time second: ours is 45 days from confirmed order, and site schedules should be built on that figure rather than an optimistic one.
III. Coils, Cartons and the Container Maths
PEX ships as coils, and coils ship air. This is the most under-estimated cost in a PEX import, and it is arithmetic anyone can do before ordering. A coil’s outside diameter is governed by the pipe size and the metres wound onto it; stacked into a container, the empty core and the gaps between coils are volume you have paid freight on. Whether your consignment ends up volume-limited or weight-limited follows directly from the coil length you specified in section II.
The practical move for a mixed North African consignment is to treat PEX as the volume filler rather than the volume driver. Straight-length PPR and cartoned brass are dense and stack predictably; PEX coils go in around them. That only works if one supplier produces all three, because otherwise you are coordinating three factories, three ready dates and three document sets to hit one vessel. Consolidating across PPR, PEX and brass with one manufacturer is why many importers change supplier structure rather than supplier price — covered in our guide to importing pipes into the Gulf and North Africa.
Settle three questions before the proforma invoice: the coil outside diameter at your chosen length; whether coils are individually bagged or bulk-wrapped; and whether the loading plan covers your full mixed order or just the PEX line. Ask for it in writing — a supplier who can produce a loading plan has thought about your container.
IV. The Certification File — What Actually Travels With the Goods
In North African markets, tenders and customs clearance are decided on documents, and the documents must be in the right name and cover the right product. Be precise about what you are asking for, because certification vocabulary is used loosely in this industry and the difference is not cosmetic.
There are two distinct categories. Management-system certification assesses the company and its processes — ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety management. These say the factory runs to an audited system. They do not certify an individual pipe, and a supplier presenting ISO 9001 as a product approval is either confused or hoping you are. Product and market-access documentation is the other category: EU CE marking, third-party testing by SGS, and Russian PT market access. WARMHAUS holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification, is EU CE marked, SGS tested and PT certified. Certificate documents and copies are available on request.
So: ask each shortlisted supplier to name their certifications exactly, in writing, with the issuing body for each and whether the certificate is in the manufacturer’s own name or a trading company’s. Then check the scope actually covers the product you are buying — the distinction between system and product certification is set out further in our explainer on ISO and CE certifications. Where your market requires a specific national approval for drinking-water contact, establish that early; approvals a supplier does not hold cannot be produced later in the shipment cycle.
The conformity regime, country by country
This is the part most sourcing guides skip. Each North African market runs its own pre-shipment or conformity-assessment arrangement, and the document your supplier has to support is not the same in Cairo as it is in Algiers. In outline:
| Market | Standards body | Conformity arrangement commonly encountered | What it means for your supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | EOS — Egyptian Organization for Standardization and Quality | Registration of the foreign manufacturer with GOEIC before goods ship, plus certificate of conformity arrangements under the import control regime | Registration sits with the manufacturer, not the importer — start it long before the first order |
| Algeria | IANOR — Institut algérien de normalisation | Pre-shipment inspection and conformity documentation via the appointed inspection body, tied to the import domiciliation process | Inspection is normally at origin — build the date into the 45-day cycle |
| Morocco | IMANOR — Institut marocain de normalisation | Conformity to Moroccan standards; regulated product families may require a certificate of conformity before clearance | Confirm whether your specific product family is in a regulated list |
| Tunisia | INNORPI — Institut national de la normalisation et de la propriété industrielle | Technical control at import for products within scope, with conformity documentation presented at clearance | Check scope early; requirements differ by tariff heading |
| Libya | LNCSM — Libyan National Centre for Standardization and Metrology | Certificate of conformity arrangements applied to imported goods | Verify the current arrangement with your clearing agent before shipping |
This is general orientation for planning only, not customs, legal or regulatory advice. Import control and conformity-assessment regimes in these markets change, are administered through appointed bodies that are periodically re-appointed, and vary by product and tariff heading. Always verify the current requirement for your specific goods with the relevant national authority, your clearing agent or your importer of record before shipping.
Two structural points survive whichever market you are in. First, several of these regimes place obligations on the manufacturer rather than the importer — registration and origin inspection are the common examples — which means a supplier who has never shipped to your country may need lead time before they can ship at all. Ask directly: have you shipped to this market, and under which arrangement? Second, CE marking is not a passport to any of these markets. It is an EU declaration, useful evidence of conformity work, and no substitute for the national document. A supplier who offers CE marking as the answer to an Egyptian or Algerian import question has not shipped there. The related requirements for Gulf destinations are covered in importing pipes into the Gulf and North Africa, and the Egyptian route in more detail in importing plumbing materials into Egypt.
V. Seven Checks That Separate a Manufacturer From a Trading Desk
Both will send you a quotation on letterhead. These are the questions where the answers diverge, and they are worth working through before the first order rather than after the first quality dispute.
Which lines are yours?
Ask specifically which processes run in-house — extrusion, injection-moulding, machining — and which are bought in. A manufacturer answers immediately and in detail. WARMHAUS runs its own extrusion, injection-moulding and machining lines.
Whose name is on the certificates?
If the ISO or test certificates carry a different company name from the one on your proforma invoice, you are buying through an intermediary. That may be acceptable, but you should know it before customs does.
Where does the raw material come from?
A factory that buys its own resin can name its suppliers. Ours are Hyosung, Borealis and LG. A trader usually cannot answer this at all, because they are not the one purchasing the material.
What is the real MOQ?
Per size, or per order? A trading desk consolidating from several factories inherits every one of their minimums. WARMHAUS operates with no MOQ, which is what makes a small first PEX order possible.
Can you mix PEX, PPR and brass in one container?
Ask for a written loading plan covering the whole order. When PPR, PEX and brass all come from one manufacturer, a mixed consignment is a packing exercise rather than a coordination problem across separate factories with separate ready dates.
Do the pipe and the manifold actually fit?
Confirm that pipe sizes are dimensioned to the manifold outlets you are buying. When they come from different sources, adaptors and thread mismatches appear on site — and they appear at the installer, not at your desk.
What happens on a claim?
Establish who inspects, who replaces and on what timescale before you need to know. Ask for the process in writing as part of the distribution terms rather than as a clause you read after a problem.
VI. Structuring the Relationship: Buyer, Distributor or Private Label
A PEX supply relationship usually takes one of three shapes, and the right one depends on how much of the market you intend to own. Spot buying is the simplest — order against project demand, no commitment, no territory. It suits a contractor or trader testing whether PEX moves in their market at all.
Territory distribution is the step up: you build the brand in your country and the manufacturer supports you rather than selling around you. The logic is straightforward — a distributor who invests in stock, training and specification work needs to know a competitor will not import the same brand next season. WARMHAUS works toward one qualified partner per territory, with scope and terms agreed case by case; the framework is set out on our distributor partnership page, and the regions we currently export to are described under countries we supply. Whether a particular territory is available is a question to ask directly — it changes as agreements are signed, so there is no standing list to read off.
Private label puts your own brand on the pipe. It changes the print legend, the packaging and often the carton artwork, so it needs deciding before extrusion rather than after — and it changes your commercial position from reselling someone else’s brand to owning the one your market asks for. The trade-offs between the two routes are worked through in our comparison of private label versus distribution.
VII. One Supplier for PEX, PPR and Brass
The argument for consolidating a North African piping programme with one manufacturer is not a discount — it is that the parts fit and the paperwork comes from one source. WARMHAUS is a manufacturer of PPR, PEX and brass piping systems, not a trading company. The extrusion, injection-moulding and machining lines are our own, which is why our PEX-B underfloor-heating pipe and our brass manifolds can be specified together against one drawing. On documents, be precise about what consolidation does and does not give you: the management-system certificates are company-level, so one set covers the business, while product documentation is per product — each declaration and each test report has its own scope, and you should check that scope against what you are actually buying. What you avoid by consolidating is chasing four suppliers for four separate document sets, not the need to read them. Manufacturing since 1993, three plants totalling 100,000 m² of building area, over 500 staff including 50+ technical and R&D personnel, and a total monthly capacity of 2,000 tonnes. Raw material comes from Hyosung, Borealis and LG. ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 / ISO 45001 certified, EU CE marked, SGS tested, Russian PT certified. No MOQ. Standard lead time 45 days.
For a buyer working Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria or Morocco, the practical benefit is narrower than that specification list suggests: one supplier account instead of four, one set of certificates to file, one loading plan for a mixed container, and no minimum order between you and a first market test. Request the PEX specification sheet and distributor terms for your market — tell us your country, your sizes and your expected first volume, and we will come back on availability and terms for that market. Pricing, certificate copies and packing data: available on request.