The price of a Morbi porcelain slab depends mainly on its size, thickness, body type, finish and grade. Packing, design complexity, order volume and the factory's fuel costs move it further.
There is no single list price for slabs. A real quote depends on your exact specification and the plant you buy from. This guide explains what drives the figure, so you can compare quotes fairly.
Size and thickness
Bigger slabs cost more per square metre to make. Fewer plants have presses and kilns that can make them, yields at sorting are lower, and handling takes more care. A 1600x3200 mm slab is a different industrial product from an 800x1600 mm one.
Thickness adds raw material, kiln time and weight. A thicker slab also means fewer square metres per container, which raises freight per square metre. Our guide on porcelain slab thickness shows how weight rises with thickness.
Body type and finish
- A standard body with a printed glaze is the base product.
- A colour-matched body adds pigment to the whole mix.
- A vein-through body needs a special powder-loading process and is usually the most expensive body type.
- High-polish finishes add a polishing and sometimes a sealing step after firing.
- Textured, carved or special matt finishes may need extra glaze layers or different tooling.
Design and matching
A design from the factory's existing range is cheaper than a new one. Book-matched and continuous-vein designs cost more, because sets must stay in sequence and a rejected slab can spoil a set. See book-match in porcelain slabs.
Grade
Factories sort slabs into grades after firing. The top grade, with the strictest limits on defects, shade and flatness, costs more than lower grades. Definitions differ between plants, so two quotes for "Premium" may not describe the same product. Ask for the written grade definition, as explained in tile grades.
Packing, volume and timing
- Slabs need A-frames or crates rather than cartons, and heavier export packing costs more.
- Larger and repeat orders usually get better terms than a single mixed container.
- Ready stock is often cheaper and faster than a made-to-order run in a special design.
- Fuel is one of the largest production costs in Morbi, so quotes often carry a short validity period and can change when gas or propane prices move.
Fuel and quote validity
Fuel effects are covered in depth in gas prices and Morbi tile costs.
What a quote should state
To compare quotes, make each factory quote the same things: size, thickness, body type, finish, grade definition, packing type, slabs and square metres per crate, crates per container, Incoterm, quote validity and lead time. A cheaper quote with lighter packing or a looser grade is not cheaper once breakage and rejects are counted.
Next step
We collect like-for-like quotes from plants that make your slabs in-house and check what each one includes. To get real figures for your specification, book a free sourcing review.