Tiles landed in Sydney

The tiles we priced

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

Landed in Sydney, 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 Sydney: about $18,066 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 Sydney prices

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

Amber SYD price zone, Pure Stone 600x1200 and 600x600 porcelain: $37.77 promo, $62.95 RRP per m2, the cheapest of Amber's zones (QLD and Port Macquarie $68.95 RRP). National chains $60 to $150.

WTD tiling $46 to $115 per m2, highest of the eight.

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 ($38 to $63 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 Sydney market

Sydney is the dearest of the eight cities: about 15 percent above Brisbane on the cost index, with kitchens $13,800 to $51,750 installed, bathrooms $11,500 to $40,250 and tiling labour $46 to $115 per m2. Plumbers charge about $92 to $230 an hour, and stone fabricators 15 to 20 percent more per metre than Brisbane or Adelaide. Amber Tiles' Sydney price zone is its cheapest, so tiles are the one line where Sydney shoppers start ahead.

How it gets to Sydney

Foshan factory to Nansha, Shekou or Yantian, a direct service to Port Botany, then the M5 or the M8 to the suburbs.

DP World, Patrick and Hutchison run container terminals at Port Botany, about 15 km south of the city.

Inner suburbs: depot unpack and a small truck. Outer suburbs and new estates in the west and north-west: a container at the kerb is usually fine.

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 Sydney

Temperate and humid on the coast. Moisture-resistant board in wet rooms is enough for most of Sydney.

• Sydney has the most local showrooms and the widest local price range, so the gap to landed varies more here than anywhere else.
• Terraces and inner-city streets rarely take a side-loader. Plan on depot unpacking and a smaller truck, and a council permit if anything stands in the street.
• Port Botany charges a per-container terminal access fee of about $225 to $233, like Brisbane and Melbourne. It is on the breakdown below, not hidden in the freight rate.

Questions