G562 Granite (Maple Red) — Slabs, Tiles & Paving

G562 is a red granite quarried in China and sold internationally as Maple Red Granite. The same stone travels under at least three names, and a buyer meets all of them within one afternoon of searching: g562 granite in the coded Chinese export catalogue, maple red granite in trade listings, and cengxi red where the material is named after its producing district rather than its colour. Inside China it is 枫叶红 — maple leaf red — which is where the export name comes from.

One thing worth saying before anything else. The search phrase red granite China returns a mixture of genuine factory listings, trading companies reselling the same handful of materials, and stone that is red but has nothing to do with this grade. That is not a reason to avoid the category. It is a reason to buy it against a specification rather than a name. The three names above describe one material in most listings, but trade names are not regulated, and the same words get attached to different stone by different sellers.

This page is written for importers, distributors, fabricators and monument wholesalers evaluating G562 as a material to buy in container volumes. It covers what the stone is, how to read a G562 specification, which forms it ships in, how to verify quality before you pay, and the mechanics of ordering from a Chinese supplier. The section on colour fastness in red granite is longer than the equivalent section on most pages of this kind, because it is the question that decides whether a red granite order goes well.

If you are a homeowner looking for someone to install a countertop, this is not the page you need — G562 moves in slabs, tiles and setts, not installed jobs.

---

What Is G562 Granite? (Maple Red)

G562 is a granite in the commercial sense of the word: an igneous rock with a visibly crystalline structure, hard enough to take a polish, and consistent enough in colour to be traded as a named grade. Geologically it is a granitic rock — quartz, feldspar and mica in varying proportions, plus the accessory minerals that give each deposit its particular colour. Commercially it is one of the codes that anchor the red end of the Chinese granite export catalogue, which is a smaller and more specialised part of that catalogue than the greys and the blacks.

That smaller size matters to a buyer for a practical reason. The red family has fewer independent producers than the grey family, so the number of factories genuinely cutting the material is smaller than the number of companies listing it. Supply is real, but it is not as deep as it is for a G603 or a G654. That shapes lead times, price stability and how much leverage you have in a negotiation, and it is worth knowing before you assume the red catalogue behaves like the grey one.

Colour and Appearance

G562 is a warm red with a speckled, crystalline texture. The base tone sits on the red side of the family rather than the brown side — closer to a brick or raspberry red than to a rust or a terracotta — and the surface carries lighter feldspar crystals and darker mineral specks through it, which is what gives the stone its granular look rather than a flat wash of colour.

Three things change that description considerably, and a buyer should hold all three in mind:

Finish. Polished G562 is the darkest and most saturated version of the stone, because a polished surface reflects light instead of scattering it, and the colour reads deeper as a result. Flamed G562 is noticeably lighter and flatter, in the direction of a muted pink-red. Honed sits between the two. A buyer comparing a polished sample against a flamed installation is looking at two different colours of the same material.

Wet versus dry. Wet stone reads darker and more saturated than dry stone. Photographs taken in a factory, under directional lighting, on a wet slab, present a colour that the delivered material may not reproduce on a dry wall in daylight.

Block. Colour shifts between quarry blocks and between positions within a single block. This is normal for granite and is not a defect, but it is the most common source of dispute in the red family, because red is a colour the eye registers as a strong signal and mismatches are conspicuous.

The practical consequence is that written colour descriptions — including this one — are close to useless as a purchasing document. Approve a physical sample in daylight, dry, in the finish you are actually buying, and require the supplier to retain a matching reference piece.

How G562 Differs From Other Chinese Reds

The red granite family is smaller than the grey family, and the names inside it overlap in ways that make comparison harder rather than easier. What a buyer needs to know is the structure of the family, not a list of names.

Within the reds. Chinese red granites range from pale pinks through salmon tones to deep brick and oxblood reds. G562 sits in the middle of that range — a medium-depth red that reads clearly as red without going to the near-maroon end. Other Chinese reds move under trade names such as Shidao Red and Peach Red, and under generic export labels like China Red, and codes are not applied consistently across sellers. Treat a red granite enquiry as a colour-matching exercise first and a code lookup second.

G562 versus G682 (Sunset Gold). G682 is a warm yellow-brown, not a red, and it is the grade most often confused with G562 in conversation because both are "warm" stones. They are not substitutes. G682 is a much larger-volume material with deeper supply, and it is frequently specified for paving and walling where a warm but non-red palette is wanted. If a client asks for something in the warm family and the budget is tight, G682 is usually the more available option; if the brief specifically says red, G682 will not satisfy it.

G562 versus G654 (Padang Dark). G654 is a dark grey that reads near-black when polished or wet. The two sit at opposite ends of the palette and are most often specified together, as contrasting bands or as paving against cladding. The interesting difference is behavioural rather than visual: dark stone masks staining and weather marking, which is a large part of why G654 dominates exterior paving. Red sits in the middle. It hides more than a light grey and less than a black.

G562 versus G603 (Padang Cristallo). G603 is a light grey and the lightest of the family. On a large elevation, G562 will read considerably heavier and warmer, and it will also show any surface bloom or efflorescence more than a mid-grey. That is a design decision on a facade and a maintenance consideration on paving.

The difference that actually costs money. Red granite is the family where colour enhancement is most common in the trade, because a deep, even red carries a price premium and the temptation to manufacture that evenness is real. Dyeing and resin treatment are not hypothetical risks in this family; they are a known feature of the market. A buyer who applies the greys' diligence level to a red purchase is under-inspecting. The section on colour fastness below deals with this in detail.

Quarry Origin and Batch Consistency

Chinese red granites are quarried in the south of the country, and the cengxi red name points to the Cenxi district of Guangxi, one of the established granite-producing areas in that region. Confirm the current quarry source with your supplier rather than assuming continuity — quarry designations shift as pits open, deepen and are worked out, and the trade name frequently outlives the pit it was named for.

The structural point for a buyer is the same one that applies across the Chinese granite catalogue, but with more force in the reds: "G562" describes a colour band, not a single geological deposit. Two factories cutting G562 may be cutting from different blocks, different pits, or in some cases different material sold under the same trade name. There is no central registry that enforces the correspondence.

That is not a reason to walk away. It is the reason the consistent buyer works from an approved physical sample that the supplier retains, states in the purchase contract that delivered material must match it, and treats the sample as the specification rather than the code.

---

Specifications

Slab and Tile Sizes

Chinese granite factories cut to standard and custom formats. The sizes below are the ones most commonly offered; confirm actual availability against current stock, because what a factory holds varies by month and by block.

Large slabs. Large slabs are the primary form for countertop, cladding and cut-to-size work. Typical dimensions run in the 2400–3000 mm range on the long edge, with height commonly between 1200 and 1800 mm depending on the block. Thicknesses are commonly 18 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm. A large slab is sold as-is and the fabricator cuts the finished piece from it, so the slab format determines how much usable yield comes out of each slab — which matters more on a red than on a grey, because offcuts in a colour-matched project are harder to reuse elsewhere on the job.

Cut-to-size and tiles. Tiles are cut to fixed dimensions. Standard floor and wall formats include 300×300, 400×400, 600×300, 600×600 and 800×800 mm, with 600×600 the most commonly specified for commercial flooring. Stair treads, window sills, copings and kerbs are cut to project dimensions.

Custom sizes. Cut-to-size work is normal rather than exceptional. Most factories will cut to a drawing, but tooling set-up adds cost and, more significantly, adds lead time. Where you can work within a standard format, pricing and scheduling are generally better.

Thickness and Tolerance

Common thicknesses are 18 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm for slabs, and 20 mm to 50 mm for paving and kerbs. Thicker sections — 50 mm and above — are used where the stone has a structural role or where edge profile depth matters visually, such as pool coping and monument bases.

Tolerance is where specifications diverge between suppliers. A tolerance of ±1 mm is commonly quoted on calibrated slab; uncalibrated material can vary considerably more. Where the installation requires a consistent bed depth — mechanically fixed cladding does — specify calibrated material with a stated tolerance and hold the supplier to it in writing.

One measurement note that applies with particular force to paving. Thickness is typically checked at the edges of a piece and at a small number of points. A slab or paver can meet nominal thickness at the edge and still be thicker in the middle if the saw was not set correctly. Where thickness drives the installation — a sand-bedded paver laid to a fixed level, for example — ask how the supplier measures thickness and at how many points.

Surface Finishes

The finish changes both the appearance and the performance of the stone, and it is not reversible. Once a face is flamed, it cannot be polished back to a match with the rest of the consignment.

Polished gives the darkest, most colour-saturated appearance and the highest reflectivity. It is the standard finish for interior cladding, countertops and monument work. Polished surfaces are slippery when wet, which is why polished granite is generally not specified for exterior paving.

Honed produces a matte, low-sheen surface by stopping the polishing process short. It reads more muted than polished and carries a lower slip risk. Commonly used for interior flooring and for a contemporary, less reflective look.

Flamed is produced by directing a high-temperature flame at the surface, which causes the surface crystals to spall and leaves a rough, non-reflective texture. It is the standard finish for exterior paving, and flamed maple red G562 is the specification most paving buyers are working with. On a red granite the flamed finish does two things at once: it lightens the colour substantially, and it opens the surface mineralogy, which is relevant to the oxidation discussion further down this page.

Bush-hammered is mechanically textured with a hammer head. It is coarser than flamed and is used where maximum slip resistance is wanted.

Brushed and leathered finishes sit between honed and flamed. The surface is wire-brushed to produce a tactile rather than rough texture. These finishes have grown in popularity for interior flooring and for exterior paving where a softer look is wanted.

Split face and natural face are the rough, quarry-split surfaces used for wall cladding and stack stone, where the texture is the point.

Physical Properties: What to Ask For

Granite is a family of rocks, not a single material, so one set of physical values does not describe every grade. Published figures for granite as a rock type place its density in the region of 2.65–2.75 g/cm³ [source: en.wikipedia.org].

That figure is useful as a sanity check. It tells you that a cubic metre of granite weighs roughly 2.7 tonnes, which is the number you need for freight arithmetic. It is not a substitute for test data on the specific material you are buying, and no published figure for "granite" in general tells you what a particular container of G562 will do.

Two traps that catch buyers in this family specifically:

Geological values and dimension-stone values are measured differently. Compressive strength figures quoted in geology references describe intact rock under laboratory conditions, tested to geological standards. Dimension stone is tested to different standards — in the US, ASTM C615 governs granite dimension stone — and the numbers are not interchangeable. A very high compressive strength figure quoted on a stone trading site with no stated test standard should be treated as unverified.

Red granites attract more unsourced property claims than greys do. Because red is a premium colour, listings for red granite tend to be more heavily marketed, and marketing copy is where unsourced numbers live. If a figure has no test standard behind it, it is decoration.

What a usable G562 specification sheet contains:

If a supplier cannot say which standard the numbers were tested to, the numbers are not usable. Ask instead for the batch Certificate of Analysis, and read it the way the Quality Inspection section below describes.

---

Available Product Forms

G562 is cut into a range of finished products. The forms below are the ones that move in export volumes.

Slabs, Tiles and Cut-to-Size

A G562 slab is the primary export form for countertop, cladding and monument work. The commercial distinction that matters is between large slab, sold by the slab and giving the fabricator freedom to cut, and cut-to-size, which arrives finished to the project drawing and reduces on-site waste. Cut-to-size generally costs more per square metre and produces less waste and less site labour.

For colour-matched work there is a third consideration that does not apply to greys in the same way. Every cut-to-size piece is a piece that has to match its neighbours, and the more the factory cuts, the more opportunities there are for a block boundary to fall inside the order. Ask the supplier to declare how many blocks the order will be drawn from, and require that the pieces from each block arrive separately bundled and labelled. That single packing instruction makes the difference between an installation where variation reads as natural stone and one where it reads as an error.

Paving and Setts

G562 paving is normally supplied in flamed or bush-hammered finish, in fixed formats or as random-length pieces. Fixed formats are easier to lay consistently where a visible joint pattern is part of the design; random lengths suit informal hardscaping. Setts — small, roughly cubic units — are cut for driveways, edging and decorative banding.

Paving is a form where the buyer's local specification usually drives the dimensions rather than the supplier's stock list, particularly when the paving has to interface with kerbs, drainage channels or thresholds set by a municipal standard. Decide the format before you ask for a price, because a paving quotation for the wrong format is not a comparable number.

Monument Blanks

Red granite has a long association with memorial work, and G562 is used both for full monuments and for the die, base and surround components of monuments whose main element is a different material. Blanks are supplied as sawn or semi-finished blocks and slabs sized for the memorial trade, and are dealt with in more detail below, because the buying process differs from architectural work.

---

Grades and Quality Standards

Commercial Grade vs Export Grade

Chinese granite factories commonly sort production into quality tiers for internal purposes. There is no universal definition of those tiers across the industry — one factory's "A grade" is another factory's standard export. What matters is that the specification in your purchase contract describes the material in observable terms rather than by grade name.

A workable specification states:

• Permitted colour variation from the approved sample
• Maximum acceptable surface defect size and count
• Thickness tolerance
• Tolerance on cut dimensions and squareness
• Edge finish quality
• A declaration of whether the colour is natural or enhanced

If your contract says "A grade" and nothing else, you have no basis for a claim.

Colour Fastness in Red Granite

This is the question that decides most red granite purchases, and it is the one most often answered badly — either with a flat reassurance that granite does not fade, or with vague warnings that reds "change outdoors". Neither is useful. The accurate answer has three parts, and they have different consequences.

Part one: the red in unenhanced granite is mineral, not applied. The colour of a natural red granite comes from its own mineralogy — principally from feldspar crystals that are reddish or pinkish in the body of the crystal, together with iron-bearing accessory minerals. A colour that lives inside the crystal structure does not bleach the way a surface coating does. Unenhanced red granite exposed to sunlight does not lighten to grey. If a supplier tells you red granite fades in UV, that is usually a warning about the material they are actually selling rather than about granite.

Part two: iron-bearing minerals at the surface can oxidise, and that changes what you see. Granite contains iron in various mineral forms, and some of those minerals react with water and oxygen at the exposed surface over time. The visible result is typically a darkening, a brownish bloom or a rust-coloured mark rather than a loss of red, but the perceived colour of an elevation or a paved area can shift enough to be noticed, particularly against a retained reference sample that has been kept indoors. This process is slow, it is surface-level, and it is accelerated by moisture, by coastal salt exposure, by de-icing salts and by acidic deposition. It is a materials characteristic rather than a manufacturing fault, and it is more visible on flamed and bush-hammered surfaces than on polished ones, because texture increases the exposed surface area and scatters light differently.

Part three: applied colour fails in a way that natural colour does not. This is the part that actually costs buyers money. Dyeing and resin treatment are established practices in the red granite trade. A treated stone can be made more even, deeper and more consistent than the quarry produces, and it is generally sold without the treatment being mentioned. The failure mode is predictable: organic dyes degrade under ultraviolet exposure, and a dyed surface lightens unevenly and develops wear patterns where the surface is trafficked or washed. A dyed paving slab two years into a municipal contract is a visible problem, and it is the buyer's problem rather than the dyer's.

How to establish which one you are buying

1. Get a written declaration. Ask for the statement "natural colour; not dyed, not resin-treated, not surface-enhanced" on the contract or the invoice — a document that carries commercial weight — rather than in a chat message. Suppliers who sell genuine material have no difficulty providing it. Reluctance to put it in writing is itself information.
2. Run a solvent check on a sample. Wipe an inconspicuous area of a sample piece with acetone or lacquer thinner on a white cloth or paper towel. Dye migrates onto the cloth. Work in a ventilated space and follow the solvent's safety instructions. A negative result is not proof — some treatments do not respond to acetone — but a positive result settles the question immediately.
3. Look at a cut edge. Dye penetration is typically shallower than the stone. On a cut edge, or on the underside of a slab, colour that is lighter than the face, or a visible colour line partway through the section, is a reason to ask harder questions. Cutting or polishing a small area of edge on a sample and comparing it to the face is a quick check.
4. Treat price as a question, not a verdict. A price materially below the market for a deep, even red is a reason to run the checks above. It is not proof of anything on its own.
5. Take two reference pieces, not one. Keep one indoors and expose the other on site or in a location with the same orientation and weather exposure as the installation. Comparing the two after a season tells you what your specific consignment does, which no general statement about red granite can.

Do not confuse colour change with staining, or staining with the stone failing. White hazing that appears on paving after installation is more often efflorescence — salts migrating out of bedding mortar or the substrate — than anything happening inside the granite. Brown streaking in a wet climate is often run-off from adjacent metal, such as fixings, railings or window frames, rather than from the stone. Diagnose the source before opening a claim against the supplier, because a claim brought on the wrong diagnosis is difficult to withdraw.

Specifying for colour stability. State the declaration in the contract. Specify a penetrating sealer for exterior work if the supplier recommends one for your climate, and ask what reapplication interval they advise — a sealer reduces water ingress, which is the mechanism behind surface oxidation, so it is a maintenance item rather than a one-off treatment. For paving in coastal or heavily salted environments, ask the supplier directly whether they have supplied the grade into comparable exposure before, and ask for a reference installation you can inspect.

Common Defects and How They Arise

Colour variation between slabs. The most common issue, and the one most likely to matter on a visible elevation. It arises from different quarry blocks and from different positions within one block. Control it by requiring pre-assembly photographs before packing.

Iron staining and pinhole rust spots. Small sulphide-bearing inclusions in granite can oxidise and produce a rust-coloured spot or streak at the surface. This is a characteristic of the material rather than a manufacturing fault, and it is worth asking about specifically for any red granite going into an exterior application in a wet or coastal climate. Ask what proportion of a typical production run shows it, and ask for photographs of the actual bundle faces.

Hairline cracks. Usually handling damage rather than a material defect, though natural fissures occur. A fissure that runs through the full slab thickness is a reject; surface crazing generally is not.

Resin-filled pits and cracks. Surface pits or cracks filled with coloured resin are common across the granite trade and are not inherently dishonest if declared. The risk is that the filler ages differently from the stone. Ask whether filling is used, and if so, whether it is declared per bundle.

Edge chipping. Arises in cutting and handling. Specifying how edges are protected in packing is a more effective control than complaining after arrival.

Thickness variation within a piece. Discussed under Specifications.

Dye wipe-off at edges. Where treated material has been cut after treatment, the cut edge can be lighter than the face. This shows up first on cut-to-size and paving, which have more cut edges per unit area. It is one of the reasons the cut-edge check in the section above is worth doing.

Controlling Colour Variation

For any project where multiple pieces are visible together, the effective controls are:

1. Approve a physical sample in the correct finish and in daylight, and require the supplier to retain a matching reference piece.
2. Require pre-assembly photographs of the actual pieces that will ship, laid out dry and photographed in daylight.
3. Require single-block selection where the project justifies the cost. This limits the colour range, reduces yield and raises price.
4. Require block identification on the bundles so the installer can keep pieces from one block together.
5. State the acceptance criterion in the contract, in terms the supplier can check before packing.

Pre-assembly is the single most effective control and the least commonly requested. It costs the supplier time, not material, and it moves the colour conversation to before the container leaves.

---

Applications

Exterior Paving and Hardscaping

Flamed G562 is used for external paving where a warm red is wanted — plaza edges, driveways, garden hardscaping, accent banding against a grey field, and municipal work where the local palette calls for it. Slip resistance is the governing performance requirement for paving, and it is a function of finish rather than of the stone itself; a flamed surface is considerably less slippery than a polished one in wet conditions.

Where the paving will be trafficked, thickness matters. 30 mm is common for pedestrian areas, and thicker sections are specified where vehicle loads are expected. On a sand or mortar bed the bedding medium and jointing material affect how the paving weathers, so confirm with the supplier which bedding approach they have seen the grade perform well with.

The colour-stability considerations in the section above apply most directly here. Paving is fully exposed, frequently wet, and often salted. If your climate is aggressive, the sealer question and the dye declaration both stop being optional.

Facade and Wall Cladding

G562's speckled texture and strong colour suit elevations where a solid, warm block of colour is the intent — entrance surrounds, feature panels, low-rise facades and banding against a lighter field. Polished and honed finishes are used for entrance areas and interior lobbies; flamed and split-face finishes dominate exterior walling.

Note the weight implications for mechanically fixed cladding. At roughly 2.7 tonnes per cubic metre, a 30 mm granite panel weighs in the region of 80 kg per square metre. Fixing systems and the substrate behind them have to be designed for that load, and that is a structural decision rather than a stone decision — raise it with the project engineer early rather than at the shop-drawing stage.

Monument and Memorial Work

Red granite has a long history in memorial work, and in many markets a red memorial is specified when the client wants warmth and presence rather than the neutrality of a grey. A G562 memorial is a normal specification in those markets, and the grade is also used for bases, surrounds and kerbing around monuments whose main die is another material.

Monument buying differs from architectural buying in three ways:

• The end client sees the material, not a specification. Colour and finish consistency matter to them directly, and a mismatch between a die and its base is visible for decades.
• Lettering and carving quality is the product. The quality of the sandblasting, the depth of the cut and the definition of the letterform are what the customer is paying for, and they cannot be assessed from a specification sheet. Ask to see photographs of completed lettering in the actual stone, not renders.
• Quantities are small and varied. A monument order is frequently many designs in small numbers, which is a different production model from cut-to-size architectural work.

For memorial work, the dye question deserves a specific answer. A memorial is a surface that will be read in direct sunlight for a very long time, and treated colour has nowhere to hide on it.

---

Ordering & MOQ

Minimum Order Quantities

MOQ is set by the factory, not by the material, and it varies with the product form. A cut-to-size order carries a different minimum from a full-container slab order, and mixing forms in one container usually changes the calculation again. In the red family, MOQ also interacts with how much of a given block a factory is holding — a small order may be possible only if a suitable block is already open.

Ask directly, and ask in a way that produces a usable answer:

> "What is the minimum order quantity for G562 in large slab, in cut-to-size tile, and in paving — and can different forms be mixed in one container?"

If MOQ is a hard constraint for you, it is worth checking whether the constraint is the factory's or the trading company's own margin requirement. Factories that specialise in small-format work can often accommodate smaller runs than their headline MOQ suggests.

Sample Policy

Most exporters will supply a small sample free of charge and charge only for courier. What matters is what the sample represents. A sample cut from one slab tells you the colour of that slab, not the colour range of the production run — and in a red granite the range matters more than it does in a grey, because the eye is more sensitive to red variation.

Ask for a sample set that spans the range rather than a single piece, in the finish you intend to buy. Then keep it. The retained sample is the document the whole order will be judged against, and it is worth storing it properly — indoors, out of sunlight, labelled with the date and the supplier.

---

Container Loading Guide

Container loading is where inexperienced buyers lose money, and it is also where the arithmetic is least standardised.

What Determines How Much Fits

Weight, not volume, is usually the binding constraint for granite. A cubic metre of granite weighs in the region of 2.7 tonnes, and containers have a payload limit set by the container type, the carrier and the route. In most cases a granite container reaches its weight limit well before it runs out of space, which is why granite shipping tends to be calculated in tonnes or square metres rather than cubic metres.

Why We Do Not Quote A Fixed Figure

Pages that state "a 20-foot container holds X square metres of granite" are quoting a figure derived from one thickness and one packing method. The figure is wrong the moment either changes. The variables:

• Thickness. A container holds roughly half as much 30 mm material as 15 mm, by area.
• Packing method. Slabs ship in wooden bundles or A-frames with timber bracing between pieces. The thickness of that bracing consumes volume.
• Format. Large slabs waste more container volume than tiles, which nest more efficiently.
• Destination road limits. Some markets impose road weight limits that constrain the load independently of the container's own capacity.
• Carrier limits. Permitted payload varies between shipping lines and routes, and it changes.

What to Ask Instead

Ask your supplier for a packing plan for your specific order — the actual number of bundles, their dimensions, the total weight, and the container type. A supplier who can produce this quickly is a supplier who has done it before.

Then check the figure against the carrier's stated payload limit for your route. If the supplier's total weight is close to the limit, ask what margin they have allowed and what happens if the port weighs heavy. And if your order is drawn from more than one block, require the packing plan to identify which bundles came from which block — that is a loading document and an installation document at the same time.

---

Quality Inspection & Documentation

Pre-Shipment Inspection

For container-volume orders, inspection before loading is the highest-value quality control step available, and it costs a fraction of what a rejected container costs.

A useful inspection covers:

• Count and dimensions against the packing list
• Thickness measured at multiple points, not only at edges
• Colour against the retained reference sample, in daylight, dry
• Surface defects — chips, cracks, iron staining, polishing marks, resin filling
• Cut-edge colour, where enhanced material is a concern
• Edge quality, particularly on cut-to-size and paving
• Block labelling, if the order spans more than one block
• Packing integrity — bundle construction, bracing, edge protection

A third-party inspection company can carry this out at the factory before loading. It is normal for the buyer to commission and pay for this directly, so that the inspector reports to the buyer rather than to the supplier. If you have a dye concern, brief the inspector on it explicitly and ask for the solvent check to be documented with photographs.

Documentation

A typical granite shipment moves with:

Certificate of Analysis (CoA) — the test report for the batch. This is the document that carries the physical properties, and it is the one most often missing or generic. Read it critically:

1. Which standard was the material tested to? If no standard is stated, the values are not comparable to anything.
2. Is it a typical value or a batch result? A "typical" figure describes the material family, not your container.
3. Is it third-party or in-house? Both can be legitimate, but they carry different weight, and your own customer may require one or the other.

Colour declaration — a written statement that the material is natural colour and has not been dyed, resin-treated or surface-enhanced. Ask for it on the contract or the invoice.

Packing list — item, dimensions, quantity, bundle number, block reference where applicable, net and gross weight. This should reconcile against the physical load.

Commercial invoice — value, terms, HS code.

Certificate of Origin — required in many markets for duty purposes. Check whether your destination requires a specific form rather than a plain origin declaration.

Bill of Lading — issued by the carrier.

Fumigation or heat treatment certificate — timber packing material is subject to phytosanitary rules in most markets, and an untreated pallet can hold up a container at port. Confirm who is responsible for this.

---

Lead Time & Shipping

Lead time has three components, and suppliers often quote only the first.

Production time — cutting, finishing and packing. This varies with order size and how much custom cutting is involved, and it is longer in the run-up to Chinese New Year, when factories close for an extended period. In the red family, add a variable: if your order depends on a block that is not yet open, production cannot start until it is.

Inland transit and loading — moving the packed material to the port and loading. Usually short, but a separate step, and it shows up in the schedule when port congestion occurs.

Ocean transit — varies by route and by whether the service is direct or transhipment.

Ask for all three separately, and ask for them in writing rather than as a single "delivery time" figure. A supplier who quotes a single number without breaking it down is not giving you something you can plan against.

Incoterms

The term you agree determines where your risk starts. The practical distinction for a granite buyer:

• FOB (Free On Board) — the supplier delivers to the port and loads; your risk and cost begin there. This is the most common term for buyers who have their own freight forwarder.
• CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) — the supplier arranges and pays freight and insurance to your destination port. Convenient, but check that the insurance cover is adequate and that the freight rate is competitive.
• DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) — the supplier delivers to your door with duties paid. Simplest for the buyer, usually the most expensive, and it requires the supplier to be competent at destination clearance.

There is no universally correct choice. The right term depends on whether you have forwarding capability, where your cash flow sits, and how much you want the supplier involved in the destination end.

---

FAQ

Is G562 the same as Maple Red?

Maple Red is the trade name most commonly used for G562 in export markets, and the G-code is the underlying designation. Cengxi red is a third name for the same material in most listings, taken from the producing district rather than the colour. Because trade names are not regulated, different suppliers may list the same material under different names, or occasionally different material under the same one. Confirm against a physical sample rather than a name.

Does red granite fade?

Natural, unenhanced red granite does not bleach to grey in sunlight — the colour is in the mineral, not on the surface. What does happen is that iron-bearing minerals at an exposed surface can oxidise over time, which typically shows as darkening or a brownish bloom rather than a loss of red. Dyed or resin-treated material is a different case and can lighten unevenly under UV. Establish which one you are buying with a written declaration and, if you want confirmation, a solvent check on a sample.

How do I know if a red granite has been dyed?

Ask for a written declaration on the contract. Then check: wipe a sample with acetone or lacquer thinner on a white cloth and look for colour migration, and compare a cut edge or the slab underside against the polished face. A price well below the market for a deep, even red is a reason to run those checks.

Can G562 be used for countertops?

Polished or honed G562 is used for countertops, and granite in general is a common countertop material because of its hardness and resistance to scratching. Two practical points: granite is porous and benefits from sealing, and polished granite is slippery when wet. Neither point is specific to the red family.

How much fits in a container?

Ask for a packing plan for your specific order rather than a rule-of-thumb figure. Weight limits usually bind before volume does for granite, and the amount that fits depends on thickness, format and packing method.

What is the minimum order?

It depends on the product form, the factory and the current production schedule — and in the red family, on whether a suitable block is already open. Ask directly, and ask for the MOQ in each form separately.

Can I get a sample?

Yes, from most exporters. Request a sample set spanning the colour range rather than a single piece, in the finish you intend to buy, and retain it as the reference the order will be judged against.

---

Related Chinese Granite Grades

If you are specifying across a project, these are the neighbouring grades worth comparing:

• G603 (Padang Cristallo) — light grey, the lightest of the family, and the usual field colour when a red is being used as an accent.
• G654 (Padang Dark) — dark grey reading near-black; the standard choice for paving and monument work, and the strongest contrast partner for a red.
• G682 (Sunset Gold) — a warm yellow-brown granite, frequently used for paving and walling where a warm but non-red palette is wanted.
• G684 (Fuding Black) — a black basalt rather than a granite, often specified alongside these grades for contrasting banding.
• G633 Granite — the mid-grey of the same family, and the usual neutral field when a red is the accent.
• Granite Cobblestone & Sett — the paving formats these grades are most often bought in.

When specifying multiple grades on one project, order samples of all of them together and view them side by side. Warm tones are difficult to compare across separate photographs, and reds are the hardest of the warm tones to judge from a screen.

---

Summary

G562 is a Chinese red granite sold internationally as Maple Red, and also as cengxi red after its producing district. It is a warm, speckled, medium-depth red available in slab, tile, cut-to-size, paving and monument form, and it is bought mainly by importers and distributors serving markets where a red granite is specified.

The colour is the reason to buy it and the reason to be careful with it. Three things decide whether an order goes well, and none of them is the shade:

First, establish whether the colour is natural. Get the declaration in writing, and verify it if the price or the evenness of the material gives you reason to.

Second, control variation before the container leaves — a retained reference sample, a stated acceptance criterion, and pre-assembly photographs of the pieces that will actually ship.

Third, inspect before loading, with the inspector briefed on the specific risks of this family: iron staining, cut-edge colour where enhancement is a concern, and block identification where the order spans more than one block.

Get those right and G562 is a straightforward material to buy from a smaller and more specialised part of the Chinese granite catalogue. Get them wrong, and the colour conversation happens after the container has arrived, when there is nothing left to do about it.