Packing and Shipping Egyptian Marble and Granite

How tiles are packed: boxes, crates and pallets

Tiles and small cut-to-size pieces travel in wooden crates, with a soft separator between faces so polished surfaces do not rub. One Egyptian exporter describes the usual sequence: standard tiles go straight into fumigated wooden crates with paper strips between them, each crate is covered with a polythene sheet and closed with iron or plastic straps, and the crates are fastened to one another inside the container. Thin 10 mm modular tiles are boxed first, in Styrofoam or corrugated cartons, and the boxes then go into crates; calibrated tiles get extra carton or foam protection because their edges are the part the buyer is paying for. Palletised cartons are the alternative when the shipment will be broken down by forklift at a warehouse rather than opened on site, and exporters' photographs often show strapped, wrapped pallet loads beside crates.

Crate sizes follow the weight the stone produces, not the other way round. A loading guide that assumes 2,850 kg/m3 puts about 1,315 tiles of 60 x 60 cm at 20 mm (473 m2) or 877 at 30 mm (316 m2) in a 20-foot container; an Egyptian exporter publishes about 800 m2 of 10 mm tiles, 500 m2 of 20 mm and 285 to 310 m2 of 30 mm per box. If you need crates light enough for a pallet truck or a two-person lift, say so, because the default is whatever fills the container most efficiently.

How slabs are packed: bundles and A-frames

Slabs are shipped standing on edge. In the wooden bundle method, slabs are stacked face to face on a timber base between timber uprights, with a plastic sheet or foam between each slab to stop friction marks, then strapped and held with C-clamps. One Egyptian exporter describes fastening the bundles to each other and nailing them to the container floor so they cannot move. Published bundle sizes vary with thickness: 5 to 7 slabs per bundle is the common figure, one loading guide lists 9 to 11 slabs per bundle at 2 cm and about 7 at 3 cm, and a stone seller notes that a bundle can weigh up to 3.5 tonnes. A 20-foot container typically takes 6 to 8 bundles.

A-frames hold slabs leaning against a central ridge, which makes each slab easy to lift off with a crane or forklift clamp. The German container handbook recommends permanent steel A-frames where the frames return for reuse and squared-lumber frames for one-off shipments. Slabs are strapped to each frame half before the frame is loaded, the frame is blocked with timber against lateral and longitudinal movement and shored against tipping, lashings over the slabs are only lightly tensioned because the slabs are fragile, and whether one or two frames fit a container depends on the cargo mass. A-frames suit fabricators who unload slab by slab; bundles use the payload more fully and suit buyers who move whole packs by forklift.

ISPM 15: treated wood for crates, bundles and dunnage

Almost every piece of timber in a stone shipment falls under ISPM 15, the international phytosanitary standard titled Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade. It covers raw-wood packaging such as pallets, crates and the dunnage used to block cargo, and excludes wood processed to be pest-free, plywood being the standard's own example; secondary summaries add OSB and other engineered boards, and raw wood 6 mm or thinner. The two established treatments are heat treatment, in which the wood core must reach 56 C for at least 30 minutes, and methyl bromide fumigation. The current standard also requires the wood to be debarked, with only small bark remnants tolerated.

Compliant wood carries the IPPC mark, often called the wheat stamp: the IPPC symbol, the two-letter ISO country code, the certification number of the treatment provider or manufacturer and a treatment code such as HT or MB. The United States requires wood packaging that supports, protects or carries cargo into the country to be treated and marked under ISPM 15, and lists plywood, pressboard, OSB, laminated veneer lumber and plastic pallets as outside the regulation; many other markets apply the same standard. Ask the exporter to confirm that crates, bundle timbers and dunnage will be ISPM 15 marked, that the mark will be legible on each package, and whether your customs authority wants a treatment certificate as well as the stamp.

Container loading, weight limits and VGM

Stone fills a container by weight long before it fills it by volume, so loading is planned backwards from the payload. A standard 20-foot container has a maximum gross mass of 30,480 kg stated on its CSC plate and weighs about 2,050 to 2,300 kg empty, leaving a payload of roughly 28,200 to 28,400 kg; a 40-foot standard box is rated 30,480 to 34,000 kg but weighs 3,750 to 3,900 kg itself, so its payload is only about 15 to 20 percent higher despite twice the floor space. Exporters publish stone loads of 24 to 27 tonnes per 20-foot container for European destinations, and loading guides deduct 2 to 5 percent, or up to 10 percent, of the payload for wooden packing.

Road rules at the destination can cut this further. Federal limits on the US Interstate system are 80,000 lb gross vehicle weight, 20,000 lb per single axle and 34,000 lb per tandem axle, and states set their own limits elsewhere; one Egyptian exporter therefore loads about 21 tonnes for the USA against 27 for Europe, and two loading guides cap a 20-foot container on a tri-axle chassis at about 19,900 kg (44,000 lb). Confirm the legal road payload with your forwarder before the supplier packs.

Since 1 July 2016 the SOLAS convention has required the shipper to provide a verified gross mass (VGM) for every packed export container, on the shipping documents, before it can be loaded. Either the loaded container is weighed on calibrated, certified equipment, or every item inside, including packing and dunnage, is weighed and added to the container's tare weight. The ship's master cannot allow a container on board without it, so the net and gross weights on the packing list must be measured figures.

Labelling and documents

Each crate or bundle should be marked so it can be identified without opening it. One Egyptian exporter marks every package with the material name, the billing sizes, the quantity of slabs or tiles, the source block number and the country of origin. For a project, add your own purchase order number and the room or elevation reference from the cutting list, so that packages can be routed on site without a translator. Block numbers matter for colour-matched work: slabs from one block are packed together and should be laid together.

The core shipping documents are the same for every stone consignment. The commercial invoice is the sales document describing the goods, quantities and value; the packing list gives the contents of each package with quantities and weights; the bill of lading is the contract with the ocean carrier; and a certificate of origin, a signed statement of where the goods were produced, is required by some countries for duty or trade-agreement purposes. Wood treatment documents may be required by the destination, an insurance certificate is needed under CIF terms, and the VGM must appear on the shipping documents. Keep descriptions, quantities and weights identical across all of them; mismatches are a common cause of customs delays. One exporter sends digital photographs of each loaded container after the crates are secured, and it is reasonable to ask any supplier for the same.

What to put in your order about packing

Packing is cheapest to specify before the material is cut. State the packing method for each product line: wooden crates or cartons on pallets for tiles, bundles or A-frames for slabs, and dedicated edge and face protection for cut-to-size pieces. Give the maximum gross weight per crate or bundle that your unloading equipment can handle, and say whether packages must be forkliftable from the container door or will be lifted by crane. Specify the separator you want between polished faces (plastic sheet, foam or paper), and ask for calibrated tiles and bookmatched slabs to be packed in sequence and marked as such.

Then fix the shipping side: ISPM 15 marked timber on every crate, bundle and piece of dunnage, with a treatment certificate if your customs authority asks for one; the maximum container gross weight or stone payload that your forwarder has confirmed for the destination roads; the marking you want on each package; a packing list that shows the number of packages with the net and gross weight of each; and photographs of the loaded container before the doors are sealed. Attach the agreed sample reference and the cutting list, and have the supplier confirm each point in writing before production. For how a specific order of Egyptian marble or granite would be packed and loaded, contact us.