Stone benchtops landed on the Sunshine Coast

The stone benchtops we priced

A kitchen's benchtops in porcelain, sintered or natural stone: long wall plus island, about 7 m2, 20 to 30 mm, cut and edged to shop drawings, crated.

Landed on the Sunshine Coast, 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.

Shipped with a kitchen

On its own, a kitchen's stone benchtops pays the full set of fixed charges and Elje's minimum fees. Added to a kitchen in the same shipment it adds about $7,376 to the kitchen's landed price ($4,925 to $10,403), because the port, broker, delivery and Project Plan are already paid. Estimate.

Against Sunshine Coast prices

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

No city-specific benchtop price found. WTD market report: Sydney and Melbourne fabricators charge 15 to 20% more per metre than Brisbane or Adelaide.

Stone is the closest call on this site. Against local porcelain the saving is thin once install is added back; it is widest on natural marble and quartzite, and only when the stone ships with the kitchen.

Is it worth it?

Sometimes. For porcelain, local supply and install is close enough that the saving is thin. For natural marble and quartzite, shipped in the same crate run as the kitchen, the gap is real. Weigh it against the risk of cutting to drawings rather than a site template. Estimate.

The Sunshine Coast market

The Sunshine Coast runs about 3 percent under Brisbane on the cost index: kitchens $11,650 to $43,650 installed, bathrooms $9,700 to $33,950. Few local suppliers publish prices online, so Brisbane prices are the practical benchmark, and most showroom shopping happens there anyway.

How it gets to the Sunshine Coast

Foshan factory to Nansha or Shekou, a South China service to the Port of Brisbane, then about 100 km by road up the Bruce Highway to Maroochydore, further to Noosa.

The Sunshine Coast has no container port. Goods land at Fisherman Islands in Brisbane and come up the Bruce Highway.

A container can usually go straight to a new-build site on acreage. Check the access road can take a side-loader before the booking.

What moves the number

• Material. Porcelain and sintered slabs are usually the cheapest per m2. Natural marble and quartzite cost more and vary by block.
• Cut to drawings. The factory cuts to your shop drawings, not to a template taken on site. The cabinets have to go in square and the drawings have to be exact.
• Edges and cut-outs. Mitred aprons, integrated sinks and waterfall ends add labour at the factory.
• Weight and breakage. Stone is heavy and fragile. It is crated, and insurance sits at the top of the range.
• What it travels with. Crated in the same shipment as the kitchen, stone only adds its own freight, not a second set of port charges.

What it has to comply with

• Engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs have been banned from import and use in Australia since 2024 and 2025. Elje prices porcelain, sintered and natural stone only.
• Ask for the material test report. A slab sold as sintered or porcelain must not be resin-bound engineered stone.
• Natural stone worked: tariff 6802.91.00 (marble) or 6802.93.00 (granite), general duty 5 percent, Free from China with a certificate of origin.

Notes for the Sunshine Coast

Coastal and subtropical. The same salt and humidity rules as the Gold Coast: PVD or 316 stainless outside, moisture-resistant board inside.

• Freight, port and border charges are the Brisbane figures. Cartage is the only line that moves.
• Hinterland sites (Maleny, Montville, Eumundi) often need a smaller truck for the last few kilometres. Ask before booking a 40 ft container.
• Plenty of Sunshine Coast builds are new houses on acreage, where the whole fit-out fills its own container and the cartage cost is spread over far more goods.

Questions