Two questions decide most panel shipments: how long it takes to your port, and how many sheets actually fit in the box. The second one is arithmetic and you can check it below. The first one depends on the carrier and the season.
Qingdao is our main port; we can ship from any Chinese port when it saves you time or cost. Direct sailing times below are kept as a structure until they are confirmed against real bookings.
| Destination region | Main ports we use | Direct transit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle East | Jeddah, Jebel Ali, Dammam | Quoted per sailing | SASO/SABER documents needed for Saudi Arabia; allow time before sailing |
| Southeast Asia | Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Port Klang | Quoted per sailing | Form E for ASEAN tariff preference |
| Russia & Central Asia | Vostochny, Vladivostok; rail and road via Manzhouli | Quoted per sailing | EAC/GOST documents; rail option for inland destinations |
| South America | Santos, Buenos Aires | Quoted per sailing | Longest route of the four; book early in peak season |
| Africa | Mombasa, Lagos, Durban, Luanda | Quoted per sailing | SONCAP for Nigeria; confirm destination inspections before booking |
Transit days are not published here yet. Publishing a number we have not verified would be worse than publishing none — ask us for the current sailing and we will quote the carrier's schedule with the booking.
Two limits decide the count, and they fight each other: the volume of the box and the payload the road allows at destination. For thick MDF, weight stops you long before the box is full. For thin plywood, volume stops you first.
Sheets = (container volume × loading factor) ÷ (length × width × thickness), then check the result against the container payload. If the weight is over the limit, the weight limit wins.
Worked example, 18mm MDF at 1220 × 2440 mm: one sheet is 1.22 × 2.44 × 0.018 = 0.0536 m³. A 40HQ holds about 76 m³ of space; at 88% utilisation that is 66.9 m³, or 1,249 sheets by volume. Weight gets there first: at roughly 750 kg/m³ a sheet weighs about 40 kg, and a 26 t payload allows about 650 sheets.
| Panel | Common size | 20GP (about 28 m³ usable) | 40HQ (about 76 m³ usable) | What limits the load |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDF, 18 mm | 1220 × 2440 mm | about 460 sheets | about 650 sheets | Volume in the 20GP, payload in the 40HQ |
| MDF, 12 mm | 1220 × 2440 mm | about 690 sheets | about 970 sheets | Payload in the 40HQ |
| MDF, 25 mm | 1220 × 2440 mm | about 330 sheets | about 465 sheets | Payload in both |
| Plywood, 18 mm | 1220 × 2440 mm | about 460 sheets | about 880 sheets | Payload in the 40HQ |
| Particle board, 18 mm | 1220 × 2440 mm | about 460 sheets | about 690 sheets | Payload in the 40HQ |
Theoretical counts. Based on internal volume, an 88% loading factor and a 26 t payload for a 40HQ; real loads depend on palletising, board density and how the container is packed. Palletised cargo carries fewer sheets than loose cargo. We confirm the count and the weight before booking.
A 40HQ looks like it should take more than a thousand sheets of 18mm MDF, and by volume it does. On the road at destination it does not: most destinations cap a 40-foot container at around 26 t gross cargo, and 18mm MDF crosses that line at about 650 sheets. This is why a quote that ignores density turns into a re-packing argument at the port.
| Destination | Documents usually asked for | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | SASO / SABER certificate of conformity, CO | Certifications by market |
| Nigeria | SONCAP certificate, CO | Certifications by market |
| Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan | EAC / GOST conformity documents, CO | Certifications by market |
| Egypt | GOEIC registration and inspection, CO | Certifications by market |
| ASEAN destinations | Form E for tariff preference, CO | Certifications by market |
| Every destination | Invoice, packing list, B/L, fumigation for wood packaging | Step 4 — export documents |
Rules change by port and by year. The full picture, and how to verify a mill certificate before you pay, is on the certifications page.
Send the destination port, the panel and the quantity. You get the current sailing options, a loading plan with a sheet count that respects the weight limit, and the document list for that destination.
Get a door-to-port cost estimate for your route → Send Your Panel List
Destination port, panel type and quantity are enough to start. We come back with the sailing, the loading plan and the documents.
Send Your Panel ListWhatsApp: +86 152 6584 7535