Most problems with imported stone are not stone problems. They are packing, documentation and expectation problems, and all of them are cheaper to solve before the container is loaded.
Ask how it will be packed, specifically
'Well packed' means nothing. Ask for the crate design: timber specification, fumigation treatment, edge protection, foam, and how heavy single pieces are frame-mounted.
Ask for photographs of the loaded container before the doors close. Any supplier confident in their packing will provide them without hesitation.
Agree the approval gates
Decide in advance what gets approved and how: slab selection photographs, a prototype piece, a dry-assembly photograph, and a pre-shipment record.
Each gate should have a named approver and a response time. Gates without deadlines become the reason a programme slips.
Understand the quoting basis
FOB and CIF are not comparable numbers. FOB stops at the port of loading; CIF includes freight and insurance to the destination port. Neither includes duty, destination handling or inland transport.
Ask for the basis in writing along with the port named, because 'CIF' without a named port is not a price.
Start smaller than you think
A mixed first container — some slabs, some cut-to-size, some finished product — tells you far more about a supplier than a sample box does, at a fraction of the risk of a full single-line container.
It also surfaces the practical problems: documentation accuracy, packing quality, and whether the pieces actually match the photographs.
Takeaways
- Ask for the crate specification and loaded-container photographs.
- Agree named approval gates with response deadlines.
- Get the quote basis and named port in writing; start with a mixed container.