Tiles landed in Brisbane

The tiles we priced

150 m2 of 600 x 600 matt porcelain, one production batch, 10 percent spares, palletised.

Landed in Brisbane, line by line

Every line from the factory gate to your site. Low, middle and high use the low, middle and high of every published rate at once. Estimate: no delivered Elje job sits behind this figure yet.

By the container

About 1,000 m2 in its own 20 ft container into Brisbane: about $18,048 landed, $15 to $22 per m2. Estimate.

Shipped with a kitchen

On its own, a tile order pays the full set of fixed charges and Elje's minimum fees. Added to a kitchen in the same shipment it adds about $2,244 to the kitchen's landed price ($1,713 to $2,961), because the port, broker, delivery and Project Plan are already paid. Estimate.

Against Brisbane prices

Supply only is the fair comparison with a landed price; installed prices include labour, which you pay either way.

The Tile Collective (Herston, Underwood; Brisbane and Gold Coast only): Carrara Polished 600x1200 $28.95, Travertino Luna Honed 600x1200 $38.95 per m2. Amber QLD price zone, Pure Stone 600x1200: $41.37 promo, $68.95 RRP. National chains (Beaumont, National Tiles, Tile Cloud) $60 to $150 apply too.

WTD tiling (labour, city) $40 to $100 per m2.

Is it worth it?

It depends how you ship them. 150 m2 on its own lands at about $41 per m2, close to what local porcelain costs ($29 to $69 per m2). With a kitchen they add about $15 per m2, and a full 20 ft container lands at about $18 per m2. Estimate.

The Brisbane market

Brisbane is the base of the national renovation cost index we use (What's The Damage): kitchens $12,000 to $45,000 installed across budget to upper mid-range, bathrooms $10,000 to $35,000. Rider Levett Bucknall forecasts building costs here rising 5 percent in 2026 and 7 percent a year from 2027 to 2029, the steepest of the capitals, as the Olympics work ramps up. Plumbers charge about $80 to $200 an hour. Stone fabrication runs 15 to 20 percent cheaper per metre than in Sydney or Melbourne.

How it gets to Brisbane

Foshan factory to Nansha or Shekou, then a South China service that usually calls Sydney or Melbourne first, then about 28 km up the Port of Brisbane Motorway to the inner suburbs.

DP World, Patrick and Hutchison all run container terminals at Fisherman Islands, at the mouth of the Brisbane River.

A side-loader drops a container at the kerb in most suburbs. On a steep or narrow street, ask for the container to be unpacked at a depot and delivered on a tautliner instead.

What moves the number

• Weight, not volume. Tiles fill a container's weight limit long before its space. A shared container charges the larger of cubic metres and tonnes, so 150 m2 of porcelain pays for about 3.4 tonnes.
• Quantity. Around 1,000 m2 of 600 x 600 porcelain fills a 20 ft container by weight. At that size the landed price per m2 drops sharply.
• Size and thickness. Large formats and 20 mm outdoor pavers weigh more per m2 and break more in transit.
• One batch. Order every tile for the project from one production batch, with 10 percent spares. A second batch will not match.
• Testing. Slip rating reports for wet areas, and an asbestos-free test report for any new tile body.

What it has to comply with

• Wet areas and outdoors need an AS 4586 slip rating (P3 wet indoor, P4 outdoor is common). Ask for the P rating report, not a European R rating.
• Australia bans asbestos. The ABF can test ceramic imports at the importer's cost, so get the test report before shipping.
• Porcelain tiles: tariff 6907.21.90, general duty 5 percent, Free from China with a certificate of origin. Mosaics under 7 cm are Free anyway.

Notes for Brisbane

Humid and subtropical. Ask for moisture-resistant (HMR) board on every carcass, not only in wet rooms, and PVD or 316 stainless finishes on anything outdoors.

• Brisbane is often the last east coast call on a South China service, so the sea leg runs about a week longer than Sydney or Melbourne. Plan for it.
• Queenslanders and post-war houses often have tight stairs and high floors. Ask for kitchen pieces over 1 metre to come flat-packed so they carry up the stairs.
• A licensed QBCC contractor installs and certifies the plumbing and electrical. Imported WaterMark and RCM products are installed the same way as local ones.

Questions