Logistics guide
The most common surprise in a first quartz order is that the container still looks half empty when it is already full. Stone is dense, and the payload limit arrives long before the roof does.
A 20' GP leaving our plant carries about 25.8 tonnes net of slabs. That figure is the same whether the container holds 15, 20 or 30 mm material, and it is set by weight, not by the volume of the box. Once you accept that one number, the rest of the loading plan stops looking arbitrary.
It also explains why a quotation always has to state the thickness. Two orders of the same nominal 'one container' can differ by a factor of two in the square metres that actually arrive, purely because one is 15 mm and the other is 30 mm.
For 3200 × 1600 mm slabs the standard load is 140 slabs at 15 mm, 105 at 20 mm and 70 at 30 mm — seven wooden pallets in every case, with 20, 15 or 10 slabs on each pallet. In area that is roughly 717, 538 and 358 square metres. The pallet count stays at seven because the handling plan is built around weight distribution, not around filling visible gaps.
Change the slab format and the piece count changes but the tonnage does not. A 3050 × 1520 mm load, for example, runs to about 154 slabs in 15 mm for the same 25.8 tonnes. If your cutting list is built around a particular format, ask us to confirm the slab count for that format before you book the container — the loading plan is worked out per order, not assumed from a generic table.
Buyers sometimes ask whether a 40' container would double the load. Payload limits still apply, and heavier containers bring their own axle and handling constraints at both ends. The useful question is not 'can we fit more in' but 'what does each delivered square metre cost once the freight is divided across the slabs that actually shipped'.
That is why we publish the loading figures rather than just a price per square metre. A cheaper-looking slab that halves the area per container can be the more expensive choice landed at your warehouse. Ask for the packing plan with the quotation; we send it as standard so your forwarder can see the pallet count and the weight distribution before the booking is made.
Mixing colours in one container is normal practice. The constraint is the minimum order: 100 m² per colour, so each colour has to reach that figure on its own even when several travel together. A mixed container is therefore planned by colour first and by pallet second, and the total still has to land near the payload limit.
Send the colour split and the thicknesses you need and we will work out what fits, then come back with the loading plan before you confirm. If one colour is short of its minimum, it is usually better to adjust the split than to ship a part-loaded container.
Seven pallets at roughly 3.7 tonnes each is a serious unloading job. The receiver needs a forklift rated for the load, a level yard, and enough covered storage for slabs that must stay upright on their A-frames. Planning that after the container arrives at the gate is where damage tends to happen.
Ask for a photograph of the loaded container before it is sealed, and keep the packing list showing the pallet count and the slab count per pallet. Those two records make any shortage or breakage claim straightforward to resolve.
The specifications page has the full container loading table and the standard slab formats. The FAQ covers mixed colours, minimum order and samples. If you want to know what a particular mix would cost delivered, send the colour codes, the square metres, the thickness and the destination port and we will work out the loading plan with the quotation.
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.
