There is no list price for a lighting pole, and a supplier who gives you one before asking about height, quantity and coating is quoting a different product from the one you need. Two poles that look identical in a photograph can differ by a factor of three in price, and almost all of that difference sits in things a drawing does not show: wall thickness, zinc thickness, whether the form needs tooling, and how many you are buying.
Artay Lighting has cast aluminium in its own die-cast foundry in Istanbul since 1999 and exports to more than 33 countries. This page explains what actually moves the number, which figures we do publish, and how to compare two quotations that appear to be for the same pole.
What actually drives the price of a lighting pole?
In rough order of impact: material and weight first. A pole is priced from the metal in it, so wall thickness matters more than height — a 9 m pole with a 4 mm wall costs materially more than the same pole at 3 mm, and only the calculation tells you which one the site needs. This is the commonest place where a cheap quotation is cheap for a reason. Material is the first of those drivers, and the choice between the two is set out in aluminium or galvanized steel: which should you specify.
Protection is second. Hot-dip galvanizing to EN ISO 1461 is priced by weight and by coating thickness; a duplex system with paint over the zinc costs more again. On aluminium, the chromate pre-treatment before powder coating is a real process step with a real cost, and it is the first thing a low quotation quietly omits.
Form is third, and it is a step change rather than a slope: a shape that exists costs what it costs, while a shape that does not exist needs a die. Fabrication detail is fourth — arms, door apertures, base plate patterns, cable entries and earthing points are all labour. Quantity is fifth and affects everything above it. Freight is last but not small; poles are long, awkward and mostly air, and a container that could hold twenty 4 m poles will not hold twenty 10 m ones.
Does a decorative form cost more than a plain one?
Only if the form does not exist yet. This is the distinction most suppliers blur, so here it is plainly. Changing the dimensions of an existing pole — height, diameter, wall thickness, arm length, door position, base plate pattern, RAL colour — carries no tooling cost and no minimum order, because those are cutting and rolling parameters.
Changing the form means casting a shape that does not yet exist, which needs a die: a one-time cost of 4,000–50,000 USD depending on part size, a minimum order of 1,000–2,000 units, 4–6 weeks to cut the die and 3 weeks of series production, so first delivery lands 7–9 weeks after drawing approval. Every repeat order on that die ships in 3 weeks with no further mould charge and no minimum.
That last sentence is the whole economics. The tooling is an entry cost, not a per-project cost, which is why the second project on a die is cheaper and faster than a standard order. If your quantity does not reach the minimum, say so early — often the form can be achieved in fabricated steel or extruded profile with no die at all, and we will tell you that rather than sell you tooling you do not need.
What is usually missing from a lighting pole quotation?
Comparing two quotations is mostly a matter of finding what one of them left out. The usual omissions, in the order they cause arguments: anchor bolts and the base template, which are sometimes quoted with the pole and sometimes not; arms and brackets, and whether the spigot diameter matches the luminaire — 60 mm and 76 mm are the common sizes and they are not interchangeable; the access door, its lock and the earthing point inside it; packing, because poles need timber and strapping that a per-piece price rarely includes; and freight and loading terms, which on a long product can move the landed cost more than the pole specification does.
Two more that only surface later. Coating warranty — a generic figure quoted for all environments is a warranty written for the inland case, and on a coastal site it is worth asking for the coastal figure separately. And spare availability: if the pole is a cast form, ask whether the die stays available, because a replacement in year twelve is either the same pole or the nearest current model.
How should you compare two quotations?
| Ask for | Why it changes the price |
|---|---|
| Wall thickness, stated in mm | The pole is priced from its weight; this is the single biggest lever |
| Structural calculation to EN 40-3-1 and EN 40-3-3 | Tells you whether the thickness is engineered or guessed |
| Zinc thickness to EN ISO 1461 | Galvanizing is priced by coating weight |
| Pre-treatment before powder coating | On aluminium, chromate conversion is a real cost and the first omission |
| Tooling cost and minimum order, separately | Only applies to a new form, and should never be hidden in the unit price |
| What is included: bolts, arms, door, earthing, packing | The commonest source of a false price difference |
| Lead time for the first order and for repeats | Repeat lead time is the number you will live with |
| Certificate scope and expiry | A certificate covering luminaires does not cover columns |
Why do we not publish unit prices?
Because a unit price without a quantity, a wall thickness and a coating specification is a number that will be wrong by the time you use it. Steel and aluminium move, freight moves, and the same model at 50 units and at 2,000 units is not the same commercial proposition. A published price list in this category is either out of date or written for a specification nobody ordered.
What we do publish are the figures that do not move with the market and that almost nobody else states: tooling cost, minimum order, and lead times for both the first and repeat orders. Those are the numbers a buyer needs to plan around, and they are on this page and on the OEM and private label page.
Send a drawing, a 3D model, a photograph or a written specification with the quantity to info@artaylighting.com and we will come back with a technical drawing, a wind-load calculation and a price for that specification.
Related guides
- OEM and private label manufacturing — mould cost, minimum order and repeat-order lead times in full.
- Lighting pole materials — galvanized steel, cast aluminium and extruded profile compared.
- Street lighting pole types — the four families and what each is good at.
- Coastal lighting poles — what changes in a seaside specification.
- How to compare Turkish pole manufacturers — what nine of them publish about casting, standards and lead times.
- Street lighting poles for Iraq – what Ministry of Electricity specification D-13 requires, and why EN 40 alone is not an answer there.
- Lighting poles for Georgia – zero duty since 2008, diagonal cumulation with the EU, and what 2,435 mm of rain a year does to a pole.
- Lighting poles for Serbia – SRPS EN designations, CE alongside the domestic 3A mark, and a Serbian-language Declaration of Performance.
- Lighting poles for Kosovo – CE recognised in law, but duty on industrial goods is still being phased out.
- Lighting poles for Moldova – the EN 40 series named by the energy regulator, and a 64-degree annual range.
- The EN 40 series explained – which part does what, which one carries CE marking, and what EN 40 leaves to other standards.