How to Import a Block Making Machine into Syria: Documents and Freight

Knowing how to import a block making machine into Syria starts with one number: the shipping weight of the unit you ordered. A QT4-15 weighs 6,200 kg and travels as container cargo. A QST1800 measures 15,500 x 5,500 x 3,200 mm and weighs 34 t, so the freight plan is settled before the machine leaves our yard. What follows is how we pack, document and load the unit, and which decisions stay on your side of the water.

1. Container or break bulk: weight and outline decide

Freight class follows mass and outline, not price. At 6,200 kg a QT4-15 travels as container cargo, and the compact frames follow the same route. The QST1200 and QST1500 share a machine outline of 11,500 x 4,550 x 2,800 mm at 17 t to 20 t. A QST1800 goes to 15,500 x 5,500 x 3,200 mm at 34 t. Those are the figures we place on the packing list, so the booking is made against measurements on paper, never against a catalogue line.

Above that band the choice narrows to break bulk or split shipping. A QS1500 hydraulic press reaches 43 t with a 720 mm main cylinder, so it sails as one heavy lift or it is taken apart and crated. Splitting a line costs extra steel, extra crating and more days on the quay, and it saves one oversized lift and the escort that comes with it. Your forwarder knows which cranes and which berths are available on your side, so confirm the route there before we lock the packing plan in place.

2. Parts that must ship as separate packed units

A machine that is 15,500 mm long does not travel whole. Once a unit is split for shipment, five groups get their own packing and their own line on the packing list, because each one fails for a different reason.

• Hydraulic station and cylinders. The power unit is drained, the ports are capped, and the cylinder rods are strapped so the chrome cannot rub against anything in transit.
• Electrical cabinet. Sealed with desiccant, wrapped in barrier film and crated upright, because moisture and months of storage are harder on a cabinet than vibration.
• Moulds. Every mould is crated with its drawing number and the block size it forms, so the crate can be matched to the order the day it lands on site.
• Pallets. Strapped into square stacks with edge protection and stacked wear face up. Pallet condition sets block height and reject rate, so packing is not where that argument is won.
• Spare part kit. Boxed against the spare parts list, with that list inside the crate, so nothing separates from the machine it belongs to.

3. Documents that travel with the machine

The shipping documents we prepare are the packing list with weight and measurement per crate, the proforma invoice, the operation and maintenance manual, the electrical and foundation drawings, and the spare parts list. Every crate is numbered to match the packing list, so unpacking follows a document instead of guesswork, and the site crew can see which box belongs to which station before the crane is hired.

Origin documents and any legalisation are issued in the format your customs broker asks for, including the wording your own authorities expect to read. Send that format early, because a certificate redrafted after the container is sealed is the most common reason a file waits at the destination. We do not decide which papers your market requires. Your broker does, and we issue what is asked in the wording that is asked for.

4. Site conditions for loading and lashing

Loading a 34 t body is a rigging job, not a forklift job. Ask your forwarder what crane capacity the loading or unloading point offers, and whether the machine can be picked from the lifting points marked on the foundation drawing. The heaviest single item on a QST1800 is the main frame, and it has to be lifted by its own eyes, never by the mould carrier or the pallet guide rails.

Inside the yard the road has to carry the trailer under load, and the unloading area has to be hard, level and clear of overhead lines, because these frames stand 3,200 mm tall before they sit on a plinth. Plan the opening order as well: keep the cabinet crate sealed until the supply is ready, and leave the moulds boxed until the foundation is finished and cured.

5. Clearance and inland transport after arrival

Who pays for what on arrival is settled by the trade term you accept, not by the machine. On an FOB booking you or your customs broker arranges clearance, duty and inland haulage from the discharge point to your site. On a CIF booking we pay the freight to the agreed destination point, and your side takes the cargo from there. Write the term into the order, because it decides who books the truck.

What we cannot tell you is what your broker will ask for. Documentation requirements, inspection practice and any import permission are decided on your side of the border. Confirm with your customs broker which certificates, translations and stamps are needed for this shipment, and tell us the destination point and the trade term in writing before we book. Then the papers, the machine and the truck move in one order instead of three.

6. Three open items that delay a shipment

Three unanswered questions delay more departures than production ever does. First, the nameplate: we engrave the machine plate for the voltage and frequency your site runs, and our machines are built for 380 V / 50 Hz unless your supply is different, so tell us what your line actually delivers. Second, the mould drawing: a mould for a 390 x 190 x 190 mm block cannot be cut without your dimensions, and cutting starts only after you approve the drawing.

Third, the destination point and the trade term. Without a named destination and an agreed term, no freight rate can be quoted and no booking can be confirmed. A QST1500 at 20 t changes its freight class the day you move from a container to a flat rack or break bulk, so the term and the point come first. Send us the destination, the trade term, the block types you sell and the mould drawings, and we will send back the shipping plan and the document list for your approval.