The part of an export order that decides whether the steel arrives in the condition it left in. Nobody in our peer set publishes this.
Galvanized steel weighs out long before it cubes out. A 20 ft container will reach its payload limit with the box barely a third full, so a loading plan for steel is a weight calculation first and a volume calculation second.
The counter-intuitive part: a 20 ft container carries more payload than a 40 ft one. Both share broadly the same maximum gross weight, and the 40 ft box's heavier tare eats into it. For dense cargo, two 20 ft containers move more steel than one 40 ft.
Internal dimensions and payload. Confirm against the actual box and the line's limits at booking.
| 20 ft GP | 40 ft GP | 40 ft High Cube | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal length | 5.90 m | 12.03 m | 12.03 m |
| Internal width | 2.35 m | 2.35 m | 2.35 m |
| Internal height | 2.39 m | 2.39 m | 2.69 m |
| Door opening | 2.34 × 2.26 m | 2.34 × 2.26 m | 2.34 × 2.57 m |
| Tare weight | ≈ 2,300 kg | ≈ 3,700 kg | ≈ 3,900 kg |
| Maximum payload | ≈ 28,200 kg | ≈ 26,700 kg | ≈ 26,500 kg |
| Internal volume | ≈ 33 m³ | ≈ 67 m³ | ≈ 86 m³ |
⚠ These are nominal figures for standard boxes. Actual tare is stamped on the door of the container you are given, and road authorities and shipping lines frequently impose limits below the ISO maximum. Loading is planned against the box supplied and the route, not against a table — but the table tells you which box to ask for.
Destination port, the incoterm, and whether the consignment is going into immediate erection or into site storage. That last one changes the packing: steel that will sit in a yard for three months before erection needs to be bundled for ventilation, not for density.
Our works is at Jangalpur, Howrah, 22 km from Kolkata Port with direct NH-6 access — see shipping from Howrah for the logistics side.
Answered from our own line, not from the standard's cover page.
By weight, roughly 28 tonnes — and that limit is reached long before the box is full. Steel weighs out rather than cubes out, so a loading plan for structures is a weight calculation first.
Because both share broadly the same maximum gross weight and the 40 ft box has a heavier tare, which comes out of the payload. For dense cargo like galvanized steel, two 20 ft containers move more material than one 40 ft.
Air and drainage inside the container: bundles spaced rather than nested tight, dry untreated timber dunnage between layers, and no plastic wrapping. A sea voyage through the tropics is a long time in a damp steel box, which is exactly the condition that produces wet storage stain.
Yes. They cost nothing and they settle a damage claim, so we take them before the doors close and record the container seal number on the packing list.
Every bundle carries a tag with the order reference, item mark, section, quantity and weight, matching the packing list line for line. Marking is by stencil or steel tag rather than paint, which either interferes with galvanizing or rubs off in transit.
Give us the standard, the quantity, the incoterm and the destination port and a director replies within 48 business hours — with a price, or with the one question that stops us giving you one. Galvanizing is on our own floor, so the answer comes from us and not from a sub-contractor.
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