China
Armenia trade laneArmenia's construction and renovation market runs substantially on Chinese materials: porcelain and ceramic tile, sanitary ware and bathroom fittings, doors and windows, aluminium systems, flooring, paints and finishing products, plus the hardware that goes with all of it. For developers, finishing contractors and building-materials traders in Yerevan, Chinese sourcing is a cost structure that domestic and Turkish supply cannot match at volume.
This is dense, heavy, fragile cargo travelling one of the longest routes AGF operates — which makes load planning and packaging discipline at origin worth more than a small saving on the freight rate. Our Foshan office inspects crating and verifies weights before anything is sealed.
How Building Materials Ships from China to Armenia
Building materials are weight cargo, not volume cargo. Tile and stone reach practical road-legal weight limits (roughly 24-26 tonnes gross for this routing) at barely half a container's volume, which usually makes the 20ft container the right equipment. Lighter finishing products, doors and aluminium profiles balance better in 40ft equipment, and mixed loads need a deliberate plan rather than whatever the factory decides.
Fragility is the second constraint. Tile must be palletised and shrink-wrapped properly; sanitary ware needs foam and carton protection; glazed doors and windows must ship crated and braced upright. On a 45-60 day journey with a port transfer in Georgia and an overland leg to Yerevan, cargo is handled more times than on a direct route — packaging that would survive a short trip will not survive this one.
- Think in tonnes: 20ft containers for tile, stone and sanitary ware
- Glazed and fragile items crated and braced upright, never loose-cartoned
- Weight verification at origin prevents overweight problems in transit
- Phased project deliveries coordinated with construction schedules
What Drives the Cost
- Weight utilisation per container — the real driver of cost per square metre
- Packaging standard at origin (cheap crating becomes breakage claims)
- Routing: ocean via Georgia versus rail for schedule-critical materials
- EAEU duty by material category plus 20% Armenian import VAT
- Delivery to a Yerevan warehouse versus direct to a construction site
HS Codes and Duty Notes
Classification guidance only — duty rates change and depend on your exact product. Our licensed customs brokers verify every code before you commit to an order.
| HS Code | Products | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6907 | Ceramic and porcelain tiles | The highest-volume material on this lane. EAEU duty applies plus VAT; tile is also the category where breakage in transit most often erodes margin, so packing matters as much as tariffs. |
| 6910 / 7324 | Sanitary ware: ceramic and metal fittings | Bathroom products for retail typically need EAC conformity documentation alongside customs clearance. |
| 4418 / 3925 / 7610 | Doors and windows: wooden, PVC and aluminium | Classified by material with different duty treatment; glazed units need crated, upright shipping and confirmation that specifications match Armenian building practice. |
| 3208 / 3214 / 8302 | Paints and coatings / sealants / builders' hardware | Chemical products may carry additional EAEU technical regulation and safety-data requirements — confirm before consolidating them with general materials. |
Regulations and Compliance
EAEU technical regulations for construction products
Building materials sold in the EAEU fall under technical regulations covering safety and, for some categories, fire performance. EAC certification requirements depend on the specific product — establish what your materials need before production, because retrofitting compliance on a container of tile is not possible.
EAEU duty and Armenian VAT
The union's common customs tariff applies by material classification, plus 20% VAT on import. Duty rates differ meaningfully between, say, ceramic tile and aluminium profiles, so per-product landed-cost modelling is part of serious planning.
Dangerous goods among finishing materials
Paints, solvents, adhesives and some sealants are classified dangerous goods. They require proper declaration, packaging and carrier approval, and cannot simply be added to a general container — tell us early if they are in your order.
Door-to-Door Shipping Service
From tile and sanitary-ware factories in Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang to your site or warehouse in Yerevan: consolidation and packing inspection by our Foshan team, weight-verified loading, ocean or rail transit, Georgian port handling, bonded overland transport, and EAEU clearance coordination with delivery by truck.
For construction projects, materials can be imported in economical container quantities and released in phases — you clear customs once and draw materials down as each floor or building stage is ready, instead of paying storage on a site that is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much tile fits in a container to Armenia?
Will fragile materials survive the journey to Yerevan?
Can you deliver directly to a construction site in Yerevan?
Is rail faster than sea for building materials?
Building Materials is just one example. AGF ships whatever your business moves — on this lane and beyond. If your commodity isn't covered by one of our guides, tell us what you ship and we'll build the logistics around it.