CHIKATEX: Premier European Exporter and Wholesaler of Secondhand Clothing

Company overview

CHIKATEX SL is a Spanish sorter and exporter of used clothing at Carrer Pujada a Sant Cristòfol 11, 03820 Cocentaina, in the province of Alicante. The company states over 30 years in the trade and describes itself as fully export-oriented, with Europe, Africa, Pakistan and India as its markets.

Product lines cover credential original clothing in the original collection bags, Class A and Cream sorted grades, a dedicated West African summer range, shoes, bags and accessories, and a textile recycling stream.

Sorted in Spain, sourced across northern Europe

The intake is worth understanding before you read anything else. Chikatex says its original comes from the European market, including England, and that it works with the main used-clothing collection companies of Germany, Holland, France and the UK.

So this is not a Spanish wardrobe being sorted for export. It is northern European collection stock brought south, sorted in Alicante, and sold onward. That has a practical consequence for what you get: the brand mix and the weight of the garments follow the collection countries, not Spain, so do not assume a lighter, warmer-climate wardrobe simply because the plant is on the Mediterranean. Ask which collection origin your specific line comes from, because a bale of German original and a bale of British original are different products in most destination markets.

The bale sizes are the most useful published detail

Chikatex publishes an unusually wide range of pack formats:

• Bales from 45 kg up to 500 kg, or to order.
• Bags of 30 kg.
• Shoes bagged at 25 kg and 30 kg.
• For West Africa specifically: summer mix in large bales of 350 to 450 kg, and small bales of 45 to 55 kg or 80 to 100 kg.

Bale size looks like a packing question and is really a distribution decision, which is why it belongs near the top of your first conversation rather than at the end. A 400 kg bale is the cheapest way to move weight: fewer straps, tighter compression, better container utilisation, lower cost per kilo landed. It also requires a forklift at both ends and a wholesaler who can break it down, which means it only works if there is a layer of trade between you and the market stall.

A 45 kg bale is the opposite trade. It costs more per kilo to press and ship, and it can be carried by two people, sold intact to a market trader, and moved without any handling equipment at all. If you are selling directly into retail, the cheaper big bale often turns out to be the more expensive option once you have paid for the forklift, the space to open it and the labour to re-sort it. Choose the format that matches your last mile, and get it fixed in writing along with the tolerance, because a bale described as 45 to 55 kg can vary by more than 20 percent between the light end and the heavy end of that range.

West Africa is the declared specialism

The company names Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal as regular destinations and offers summer mix plus lightweight, durable footwear as the core package for them.

That is a coherent product for those markets, and the specificity is worth something: a supplier that names six countries and quotes bale weights for them has shipped there, whereas one that says only Africa may not have. If you sell into that region, ask what proportion of their monthly volume already goes there and to whom, because the honest answer tells you whether you are buying from a specialist or from a generalist with one good customer. Buyers comparing several second-hand clothing suppliers for the same destination should ask all of them the same question.

Standing monthly shipments

Chikatex offers to book goods for monthly shipment so a buyer receives supply continuously rather than order by order. For anyone running a shop or a market pitch, that is the difference between a programme and spot buying, and continuity of grade matters more than the price of any single container.

Before agreeing, establish what the arrangement commits you to: whether volume is fixed, how prices move, and what happens in a month when the intake mix shifts. A standing order is only worth having if the specification is stable, which is why it helps to know the vocabulary of grade definitions before you sign up to twelve of anything. The company describes a classification process in which garments are reviewed several times, but does not publish defect rules for Class A or Cream, so those need to come by email. The general pattern of how sorting houses divide their intake explains what those two words normally mean elsewhere.

The recycling side takes textile waste for fibre recovery in cotton, wool and polyester, and supplies wiping cloths to industry, which tells you the unwearable fraction has somewhere to go. For a wholesale buyer that is a quiet positive rather than a headline.

Contact is by telephone and fax on +34 965 592 386 or mobile +34 646 320 112.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Chikatex based?

At Carrer Pujada a Sant Cristòfol 11, 03820 Cocentaina, Alicante, Spain.

Where does the stock come from?

From the European market, including England, working with the main collection companies in Germany, Holland, France and the UK. It is sorted in Spain.

What bale sizes are available?

Bales from 45 kg to 500 kg or to order, 30 kg bags, shoes in 25 kg and 30 kg bags, and for West Africa summer mix in 350 to 450 kg bales plus small bales of 45 to 55 kg and 80 to 100 kg.

Which markets does it serve?

Europe, Africa, Pakistan and India, with West Africa named specifically: Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal.

Can I set up regular monthly deliveries?

Yes. The company offers to book goods for monthly shipment so supply is continuous, but the grade specification and volume terms should be agreed in writing first.