During the dry season, the wild palm of carnauba, which is found mainly in northern Brazil and grows approximately 15 m in height, forms wax scales in its fan-shaped leaves, which measure approximately 2 m in length. These help protect the tree against evaporation that occurs during the dry season.

The wax is collected during the dry season by cutting 6-8 leaves of the carnauba palm every 2 months. The wax flakes become loose when the leaves shrink, and subsequently are chopped, crumbled or brushed, or the wax is mechanically removed. The wax is purified in boiling water and then filtered. Once it has set, it breaks into pieces. The wax of carnauba is of strong yellow color to yellow, or also of greenish color to dark green (with a coloring that depends on the purification). In its molten state, it emits a characteristic pungent odor, but not unpleasant. It has a high hardening capacity (the highest found in any other type of wax, including synthetic products) and is extremely difficult to saponify (the development of alcohol and hydrocarbon emulsions prevents the formation of soap). Since the arrival on the world market of the synthetic waxes that are cheaper to produce, carnauba wax has ceased to be competitive, due to its exhausting and intense production process. This is also due to the fact that a single carnauba palm only produces 150-180 g of wax per year, equivalent to a production of 5 g of wax per 100 grams of material (leaf).

Despite these disadvantages, carnauba wax is a popular raw material in the industry, which is being used in the production of glazing emulsions and carbon paper, and also for glazing special papers (artistic impressions). It is used in the production of candles and gramophone records. Another important use is in the cleaning products industry, where carnauba wax is used as an additive in shoe care products, wax for furniture and floors, and also as polishing wax for motor vehicles (because of of its ability to offer a hard final finish).

The carnauba wax after going through several transformation processes (refining, clarifying with a whitening, or partial saponification, adding synthetic waxes, subsequent acidification) is used as bleached carnauba wax, for cosmetic purposes (lipstick), and also in the pharmaceutical sector in the coating of tablets.