Welding Materials

I don't know how it works in China and other countries, but in the U.S. it is something like this:

Various manufacturers of welding supplies (electrodes, wires, gas cylinders, torches, arc and plasma machines, attire, etc.) sell in large quantities to welding supply houses. A small town might have one such welding supply house; a city might have some tens or hundreds of these. This is called the "wholesale" level. The welding supply houses typically maintain substantial inventories.

In turn, the welding supply houses sell to various types of customers such as factories, processing plants, building contractors, and individuals. Sales to such "end users" are called "retail." The end users typically buy in small quantities on an "as needed" basis, keeping only small inventories.

There are variations from this general pattern. A large factory might buy directly from a manufacturer, for instance.

End users typically return their empty gas cylinders to the welding supply houses, which in turn recycle them to the manufacturers for refilling.

If you work for a manufacturer, most likely you will be shipping pallet-, truck- or ship-loads in bulk to welding supply houses. Because of the large volume, wholesale unit prices will be moderate. If you are a welding supply house, you might have a truck fleet to deliver to customers, or customers may come to you to pick up their supplies. Retail unit prices are higher, in order to cover inventory holding expenses, delivery services, and record-keeping.

A manufacturer might specialize in just one or a few segments of this business. A welding house will generalize, handling equipment and supplies for many types of welding needs.

That's just an overview; see where you fit in.