01 · Direct answer.
For importers, Carve quotes FOB Port of Pecém per 40' high-cube container, with CFR or CIF through a forwarder on request; APM Terminals publishes transit of as little as six days from Pecém to New York and to Algeciras on weekly direct services.[5][6] Inside Brazil, coir pith leaves Paraipaba by road: to northern Mato Grosso, transit is 10 to 15 days by semi-trailer over roughly 2,800 km; other states receive the lead time with the quotation. Freight is quoted per destination and per trip, never per tonne, because the load is limited by volume.[4]
- Origin: plant in Paraipaba, on the western coast of Ceará, the state where the Port of Pecém is located.
- Export: FOB Pecém per 40' HC; minimum order one 40' high-cube.[5]
- Inside Brazil: road only, no coastal shipping for inland destinations; standard condition is collection at the plant.[4]
- Reference road transit: Ceará → northern Mato Grosso, 10 to 15 days by semi-trailer.[4]
- Formats: 100 L woven bags with the lot QR; pressed bales for coir fiber; 5 kg compressed blocks for export.[4][5]
- Prices: not published; quotation through Contact.
02 · Export lead time through Pecém.
The lead time of an export order is the sum of five stages. Only the ocean leg has a published figure; the others are set in the offer and the contract.
- Specification and offer. You send product, grade, format, monthly volume and destination port; Carve replies with the specification sheet, an example lot report and the FOB offer within two working days.[5]
- Sample. A sample is dispatched for your laboratory, with photographs of the hydrated block.[5]
- Production and lot testing. Production is scheduled to the delivery date agreed in the contract; monthly allocations are planned per quarter. Every lot is measured before it is packed.[5]
- Stuffing and documents. Pallets stuffed under photographic record, VGM weighing, container sealed and delivered to the Pecém terminal before cut-off; the document set is sent before arrival.[5]
- Ocean transit, from the table below.
| Route | Transit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pecém → New York (US) | As little as 6 days, weekly direct | APM Terminals Pecém |
| Pecém → Algeciras (ES) | As little as 6 days, weekly direct | APM Terminals Pecém |
| Pecém → Rotterdam / Northern Europe | ≈ 2 weeks, weekly direct service | DatamarNews; FluentCargo |
| Pecém → Hamburg / Antwerp / UK | ≈ 2-2.5 weeks | DatamarNews; FluentCargo |
| Other destinations | Days per carrier quotation | Where no reliable figure exists, none is given |
Transit figures as summarized on Import Coir from Brazil, which also compares routes from South Asia. Ocean freight prices are excluded by policy.
03 · Road lead time inside Brazil.
For buyers receiving inside Brazil, the only lead time already practiced and recorded in a contract is the Ceará → Mato Grosso corridor. Other destinations follow the same logic (dedicated or consolidated truck, departure in the loading week), but the number of days comes from the chosen carrier, not from a fixed table.[4]
| Destination | Route | Transit | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mato Grosso (north) | ~2,800 km | 10-15 days | Dedicated semi-trailer; lead time recorded in contract |
| São Paulo (state and city) | Road | Given with the quotation | Trucks that bring cargo to Ceará and return empty to São Paulo are the most common option |
| Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná | Road | Given with the quotation | Longer than São Paulo; dedicated or consolidated load |
| Bahia, Pernambuco, Paraíba | Road | Given with the quotation | Closest destinations to the plant; rigid truck or semi-trailer |
| Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro | Road | Given with the quotation | Dedicated semi-trailer or consolidated load |
Mato Grosso distance and lead time: Carve contract record (route estimated on a road map). For other destinations Carve does not publish days without a quotation in hand.
04 · Who books the freight.
- Export: FOB Pecém. The buyer's forwarder books the ocean leg, or Carve quotes CFR or CIF through its forwarder on request. Export clearance (DU-E) is filed by Carve's licensed customs broker at Pecém.[5]
- Inside Brazil, standard: the buyer collects. Production is not rationed per order; the buyer's truck is loaded on arrival, with a Brazilian sales invoice for an agricultural input and the lot report (Coir pith lot report).[4]
- Inside Brazil, on request: Carve quotes. When the buyer prefers delivery, Carve asks regional carriers for a quote to the destination and passes on lead time and conditions with the offer.[4]
- Backhaul. Many trucks travel to the Northeast with general cargo and return empty to the Southeast; that return flow usually gives the best lead time and conditions to the South and Southeast.
- Substrate manufacturers with their own fleet usually schedule one truck a month and collect at the plant.
05 · Bag, bale, bulk or block.
| Format | Product | How it travels | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 L woven bag | Coir pith, coir mix | Stacked in a box or curtain-side trailer; lot QR on every bag | Standard; simple checking, manual unloading, nurseries and landscaping |
| Pressed bale | Coir fiber | Bales of loose fiber pressed for transport, weight and volume on request | Blanket manufacturers, blenders, ornamentals (Coir fiber uses) |
| Bulk in closed box trailer | Coir pith | Loose, loaded by conveyor or loader; never in an open tipper | Blenders with mechanised unloading and a silo; monthly volume in contract |
| Pressed (baler) | Coir pith | Compaction 2:1 to 4:1; export blocks 5:1 | Distant destinations; defined in the contract |
Moisture matters for freight: Carve's coir pith leaves with 18 % moisture at most, which avoids shipping water.[4] How many bags fit in each vehicle and what the load weighs is in Coir pith per truck; the working volume each kilogram gives is in Coir pith liters per kg.
06 · Truck types and volume.
Loose coir pith has a bulk density of about 90 to 95 kg/m³ at 15-20 % moisture.[1] At that density any truck fills by volume long before it reaches its weight limit, and what decides the cost per bag is the usable height of the body, not its capacity in tonnes.[2]
| Vehicle | Axles | Grain body 1.35 m | Raised sides 2.0 m | Cage 2.5-3.0 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid truck | 3 | 29 m³ | 42 m³ | 53-64 m³ |
| Semi-trailer | 5 | 50 m³ | 74 m³ | 92-111 m³ |
| B-double | 7 | Used when monthly volume justifies it; quoted per trip | ||
Volumes calculated from body dimensions and the heights of raised sides and cages within the CONTRAN 4.40 m limit; vehicle classification by axles per the ANTT table. Large box semi-trailers (around 140 m³) are used by blenders who collect full loads.[2]
07 · Frequently asked questions.
How long does coir pith take to ship from Brazil to Europe or the US?
From the Port of Pecém, APM Terminals publishes transit of as little as six days to New York and to Algeciras on weekly direct services; Rotterdam and Northern Europe take about two weeks and Hamburg, Antwerp and the UK about two to two and a half weeks. Add the time to produce and test the lot to the contracted date and to stuff and deliver the container to Pecém before cut-off.
How many days does coir pith take from Ceará to Mato Grosso?
Between 10 and 15 days of road transit, by semi-trailer, to northern Mato Grosso, over a route of roughly 2,800 km. The lead time depends on the carrier, the loading window and any stops to consolidate cargo.
Who books the freight, Carve or the buyer?
For export, Carve sells FOB Pecém and the buyer's forwarder books the ocean freight, or Carve quotes CFR or CIF on request. Inside Brazil, the standard condition is collection at the plant in Paraipaba, Ceará: the buyer's truck is loaded on arrival. When the buyer prefers delivery, Carve quotes freight per destination with regional carriers and gives the lead time with the quotation.
Why does a coir pith truck fill by volume before reaching its weight limit?
Because loose coir pith has a bulk density of about 90 to 95 kg/m³ at 15-20 % moisture, according to EMBRAPA and the Manickam and Suresh regression. A five-axle semi-trailer with a grain body carries about 50 m³, and even with raised sides (74 m³) or a cage (92 to 111 m³) the load comes to a few tonnes, far below the vehicle's weight limit. This is why coir pith freight is quoted per trip, not per tonne.
Can coir pith be compressed to cut freight?
Yes. Domestic balers compact the material between 2:1 and 4:1, and export blocks reach 5:1. A truck that carried 900 loose bags carries the equivalent of more than 2,000 bags in expanded volume when the load is pressed at around 2.5:1. Compressed formats are defined in the contract according to monthly volume.
08 · Sources.
- EMBRAPA Tabuleiros Costeiros, Comunicado Técnico 226: bulk density of dry-husk coir pith below 0.09 g/cm³; Manickam & Suresh (2011), IJEST 3(4): density regression by moisture and particle size, which returns ~90 kg/m³ for the ~4.1 mm screen at 18 % moisture.
- ANTT, minimum road freight table (classification by axles: rigid truck 3, semi-trailer 5, B-double 7); CONTRAN, maximum height of 4.40 m for cargo vehicles; grain-body, raised-side and cage dimensions from trailer-builder catalogues and market listings.
- Ing. Adalberto Romero webinar (Science Fetti / El Semillero, Colombia, 2025): compression ratios of 5:1 for blocks and 4:1 for slabs.
- Carve public specification: 100 L woven bag with lot QR, maximum moisture 18 %, pressed fiber bales, collection at the plant as the standard domestic condition; Mato Grosso lead time from a Carve contract record. See Company facts.
- Carve export terms on Import Coir from Brazil: FOB Pecém per 40' HC, CFR or CIF on request, minimum order one 40' HC, allocations planned per quarter, offer within two working days, sample, stuffing record, DU-E by a licensed customs broker.
- APM Terminals Pecém, shipping lines and published transit times, apmterminals.com/en/pecem; DatamarNews and FluentCargo for the Northern Europe service.