Building materials from China, ceramics and sanitaryware

Most export tiles and sanitaryware come from Guangdong zones. Shiwan is known for ceramics. A showroom and a wholesale belt are not proof that your lot is fired there. Ask where the kiln is, who holds calibre and who packs for sea.

A trader at a fair can give a nice sample and a different lot. Papillon goes to the plant before a serious deposit. Furniture from the same city has its own pillar. Ceramics have different breakage and a different inspection. Do not mix them in one Foshan offer only because the city is the same.

A tile standard stays with you and at the factory. It is viewed under the light you expect on site, not under a showroom flood. The purchase order writes shade code, calibre, acceptable deviation and how many spare pieces go in the same lot.

Spare is not we will order when we see scrap. Scrap on a wall needs the same kiln. A new order two months later often arrives darker, and that shows on the joint. For a hotel or venue you count spare into volume and price in advance. Sanitaryware has its own row: model, colour, connections, spare tap and lid parts. A connection that does not match the wall is a whole position, not a small thing.

Tile is heavy and fragile. LCL makes sense for a trial pallet, with packing that does not let someone else’s cargo crush yours. For a project, FCL cuts transhipments. Each extra handling is a new chance of corner breakage.

The load plan is part of inspection. A heavy pallet on a thin base and moisture in carton are usual falls. Corner protectors and strap are not decoration. The CBM container calculator is a guide. The real pallet is measured after a packing sample, because the catalogue gives a piece, not a pallet.

The wet area must be closed before furniture enters the hall or room. Late ceramics hold the whole site. Fabric that enters too early takes construction dust. Align the date with interior fit-out from China. Do not order tiles when furniture arrives.

A hotel bathroom and a venue toilet have different lists and the same principle: sample, lot, spare, inspection. Hospitality guide is on restaurant and café fit-out. Hotel sequence is on hotel furniture fit-out.

HS for ceramics and sanitaryware must be correct before shipment. The Serbia China FTA can lower duty with a correct certificate of origin. Without it you pay the standard rate. It is not automatic zero duty. The frame is on the FTA page.

Invoice and packing list must follow count, model and shade. China Serbia import documents are assembled before loading. Landed cost closes whether import pays against local buy, once breakage, spare and sea enter the sum.

Without a spec the factory sends a similar grey. Similar in a showroom and different on the wall is seen only when the first pallet opens. Before the deposit the purchase order holds format, thickness, surface, shade code, calibre, pieces per carton, cartons per pallet, pallet weight and how many spare square metres go from the same kiln.

For sanitaryware the same row: model, colour, side, connection, whether the tap is in the price and spare-part code. If the bathroom is part of a hotel, room count and spare per floor enter quantity. Incoterms, who pays freight to which point, sit next to price. EXW is the factory gate. FOB is the load port. Neither is landed cost.

QC here is not only whether the carton is whole. An agreed sample of pallets is opened. Pieces are counted. The standard is compared. Corner breakage, moisture in carton and strap tension are checked. If shade drifts from the standard, the container is not sealed. A rework in Foshan is cheaper than breaking a wall at home.

On sourcing execution above 2,000 USD independent inspection is standard before shipment. Below that amount we still open packing when breakage is costlier than inspection. The report goes to you before the remaining payment. A photo after sailing is not approval.

Papillon does not lay tiles and does not replace the installer. We run sourcing, inspection and papers. Install is done by your team on site. A spare piece that did not enter the first pallet does not arrive by air for opening weekend.

Landed cost per square metre adds tile, pallet, freight, duty, VAT and expected scrap. A cheap square with high breakage is not a cheap wall. Sea for a lot is about 35–52 days. That time does not shorten a kiln waiting for calibre.

LCL makes sense for a trial pallet. As soon as weight or pallet count nears 20 or 40 feet, FCL usually gives fewer handlings and a clearer load plan. We calculate both before the purchase order. CBM without weight misleads, because tile fills a container by kilos before air.

The Serbia China FTA holds from 1 July 2024. Preference needs a correct HS and COO. COO is requested before loading. Zero duty is not a ceramics-category promise.

Shortlist usually takes 1–3 weeks. Sample and standard comparison another 2–5. Lot firing depends on the kiln calendar and often takes several weeks after approval. Sea follows inspection. Air carries a standard. It does not carry a wall.

Put in the brief format, quantity in square metres, space, target price per square metre and the date the wet area must be closed. The answer is a shortlist, what sits in the spec and a landed-cost outline, with and without a certificate of origin where the code carries preference.