Shipping guide
A container of quartz is heavy, awkward and unforgiving of a bad pallet. The packaging is part of the specification, not an afterthought — and on most export lanes the pallet itself is a customs document.
A 20' GP of quartz leaves our plant at about 25.8 tonnes net, spread across seven pallets. That is close to 3.7 tonnes on each pallet, standing upright on an A-frame with the slabs leaning against it. Forklifts pick it up from two sides, container walls stop it from sliding, and it has to survive weeks of vibration without letting a single slab shift.
That is not a job for a light export crate. It is why we pack on solid wooden pallets built for the load, and why the packing line appears on our quotations alongside price and thickness. A buyer who compares two quotes without comparing the packing plan is not comparing like with like.
ISPM 15 is the international standard for wood packaging in trade. Solid wood can carry insects and pathogens, so the standard requires it to be treated — heat treatment or fumigation — and then marked. The mark is the small IPPC stamp on the pallet: a symbol, a country code, a treatment code and a producer or registration number. Customs officers look for the mark, not for a certificate in the inbox.
Without a compliant mark, wood packaging can be refused, treated at the port at the importer's cost, or in the worst case lead to the whole consignment being held. For a container of stone that has already been paid for, that is an expensive way to discover a packaging detail.
Plywood, MDF and other engineered wood products are often sold as 'fumigation-free' because the manufacturing process already deals with the pest risk. That is true for plywood as a material — and irrelevant here. Those sheets are not rated for a 3.7-tonne A-frame load, they deform under sustained point loads and they do not take the fixings the frame needs.
We specify solid wooden pallets with ISPM 15 treatment and the IPPC mark. If a supplier offers you a quartz container on 'no-fumigation plywood pallets', ask what the pallet is rated for and how the slabs are restrained. It is a reasonable question and it usually ends the conversation.
Our standard loading is seven pallets per 20' GP, with 20 slabs per pallet at 15 mm, 15 at 20 mm and 10 at 30 mm. The count changes with thickness while the number of pallets and the total weight stay essentially the same. That consistency is deliberate: it makes the loading plan predictable for the forwarder and lets the receiver plan unloading labour and storage before the container arrives.
If you are mixing colours, each colour still has to reach the 100 m² minimum on its own, but the pallet plan does not change. Send the colour split and we will work out what fits and send the loading plan before you confirm.
Write the packaging into the order rather than assuming it. Three lines are enough: solid wooden pallets, ISPM 15 treated with a visible IPPC mark, and the number of pallets per container. Ask for the packing list to show the pallet count and the slab count per pallet, and ask for a photograph of the loaded container before it is sealed. Those two documents settle most disputes about what was shipped.
On documentation, check what the destination requires before the goods are booked rather than after they sail. Gulf markets and the United States have their own import procedures, and the paperwork that travels with the shipment should be agreed with your broker in advance. We can supply the packing and commercial documents for the goods we sell; the import-side requirements are your broker's territory.
The specifications page carries the full loading table and the surface and packing lines. The FAQ answers the questions buyers most often ask about minimum order, mixed colours and samples. If you want the packaging line written into a quotation, ask for it when you send the quantity and thickness — we include the packing plan as standard.
Enquiry
Send the colour codes, the square metres, the thickness and the destination port. We reply with a price, a packing plan and a lead time.
