A stone has two journeys and buyers only hear about one. This is both, with the distance between them left in.
Blocks are taken from the bed and assessed on the face. The vein direction, the base tone and the density of the figure are all recorded against the block, so a later claim about what came out of it can be checked.
Rough blocks move from Guizhou to the cutting cluster in Fujian. This is the least visible part of the chain and the part where the most damage happens, which is why it is the part worth asking about.
Sawing, calibrating, polishing and finishing. Thickness tolerance is ±0.5 mm on large slab and countertop work, ±1 mm on tile; flatness is held to ±0.3 mm.
Slabs in fumigated wooden bundles with film between them. Tiles and cut-to-size in foam inside a strapped wooden crate. All timber is fumigated to ISPM15, which is what the receiving customs will ask for.
The container is loaded and photographed. A 20-foot box loaded to about 27 tonnes holds roughly 950 m² of 10 mm tile, 450 m² of 20 mm, or 320 m² of 30 mm — the number that decides the order is thickness, not area.
FOB, CFR or CIF, quoted on the container. The commercial terms are the same for every supplier of this material, and the difference between a good order and a bad one is usually in the loading photographs and the inspection, not in the terms.
A first container is how a bed is tested, and the loading photographs of that container are worth more to you than a sample case will ever be. Tell us the size and the port and we will come back with what the bed will actually give.