Shipping and Handling
How caustic soda leaves our yard in Tianjin how it is routed and what has to be in place before the container is sealed.
Packing Before Shipment
Product is packed in 25 kg bags or, for flakes, in jumbo bags. Packaging is dry sealed, and the pearl standard is a 25 kg pack in two series of plastic with three layer construction. Customised packaging and labels are accepted, so bags can carry your own brand and language.
Container Loading
Bags are palletised or floor stacked depending on the destination and on your unloading equipment. Palletised loading is faster to discharge with a forklift; floor stacking fits more weight into the same box where unloading is manual. Either way the stow is squared off and braced at the door before the container is sealed. Our factory loads around 80 containers each month.
Routing
Shipping is by sea or by railway upon availability to your destination. For inland destinations, rail can be materially faster than a sea leg plus trucking, so give us the final delivery point rather than only the nearest port and we will confirm the better routing with the quotation.
Lead Times
- Caustic soda flakes — within 7 to 10 days after order confirmation
- Caustic soda pearls — within 15 to 20 days after confirmation of the order
- Caustic soda solid — confirmed with your order
These are production windows. The ocean or rail leg, any third party inspection and national holidays sit on top, and we state the realistic arrival window when we quote rather than after you have ordered.
Dangerous Goods
Solid sodium hydroxide is UN 1823, class 8, corrosive. Bags carry the class 8 label and the dangerous goods documentation is prepared with the shipment. Tell us before you order which documents your customs authority requires so nothing has to be re issued at the destination.
Inspection Before Loading
Export products are checked by quality inspection agencies such as SGS, CIQ and INTERTEK. Nominate the agency and the inspection point at order stage and we will book it into the same slot as production.
Receiving The Goods
- Check the container seal number against the documents before breaking it
- Photograph the stow before unloading in case a claim is needed later
- Move the product straight into dry covered storage
- Set any damaged bags aside rather than mixing them into good stock
- Keep the class 8 label visible on stacked pallets
FAQ
Shipping and Handling Questions
Answers to the questions buyers ask us most often before placing a first order
Flakes within 7 to 10 days and pearls within 15 to 20 days after order confirmation. The ocean or rail leg and any inspection window sit on top of that.
Shipping is by sea or by railway upon availability to your destination. Give us the final delivery point and we will confirm the routing.
Palletised if you unload with a forklift, floor stacked if you unload by hand and want more weight in the container. Tell us your unloading method and we will recommend.
We prepare the documentation with the shipment. Tell us before you order what your customs authority requires so the set is right the first time.
Send Us Your Destination and Unloading Method
We will come back with the routing the pack and the tonnage per container.