Kitchen landed in Brisbane

The kitchen we priced

About 8 lineal metres plus an island, 2-pac doors, moisture-resistant carcasses, Blum hinges and runners, flat-packed over 1 metre.

Landed in Brisbane, line by line

Every line from the factory gate to your site. Low, middle and high use the low, middle and high of every published rate at once. Estimate: no delivered Elje job sits behind this figure yet.

Against Brisbane prices

Supply only is the fair comparison with a landed price; installed prices include labour, which you pay either way.

Per lm, Brisbane (WTD city page, Oct 2026): custom $1,400 to $3,200 per lm supplied and installed, semi-custom $800 to $1,800, flat-pack $400 to $900. Brisbane mid-range $25,000 to $45,000; premium tier same as national $45,000 to $80,000.

The local supply-only figure is worked out from published per-metre cabinetry rates, not a single quote, so treat it as a guide.

Is it worth it?

Yes, on the numbers we have. About $17,530 landed against $20,000 to $33,000 for local joinery, supply only, so roughly $2,470 to $15,470 less, before you add the benchtops, tapware and anything else that rides in the same shipment for far less than it would on its own. Estimate.

The Brisbane market

Brisbane is the base of the national renovation cost index we use (What's The Damage): kitchens $12,000 to $45,000 installed across budget to upper mid-range, bathrooms $10,000 to $35,000. Rider Levett Bucknall forecasts building costs here rising 5 percent in 2026 and 7 percent a year from 2027 to 2029, the steepest of the capitals, as the Olympics work ramps up. Plumbers charge about $80 to $200 an hour. Stone fabrication runs 15 to 20 percent cheaper per metre than in Sydney or Melbourne.

How it gets to Brisbane

Foshan factory to Nansha or Shekou, then a South China service that usually calls Sydney or Melbourne first, then about 28 km up the Port of Brisbane Motorway to the inner suburbs.

DP World, Patrick and Hutchison all run container terminals at Fisherman Islands, at the mouth of the Brisbane River.

A side-loader drops a container at the kerb in most suburbs. On a steep or narrow street, ask for the container to be unpacked at a depot and delivered on a tautliner instead.

What moves the number

• Door finish. 2-pac and timber veneer cost more than a decorative board, at the factory and here.
• Volume. Pieces over 1 metre come flat-packed, which can halve the shipped volume. Freight is charged on cubic metres.
• What it travels with. A kitchen on its own pays a whole set of port, broker and delivery charges. In a whole-house container it shares them.
• Hardware. Name the hinge and runner brand on the quote (Blum or Hettich). Unnamed hardware is where a cheap quote gets cheap.
• Benchtops are a separate line. See stone benchtops.

What it has to comply with

• Board: E0 or E1 formaldehyde emission, with the test report for the batch.
• Timber products: as the importer you run illegal logging due diligence and answer the community protection question on the import declaration.
• Tariff 9403.40.00, general duty 5 percent, Free from China with a ChAFTA certificate of origin.

Notes for Brisbane

Humid and subtropical. Ask for moisture-resistant (HMR) board on every carcass, not only in wet rooms, and PVD or 316 stainless finishes on anything outdoors.

• Brisbane is often the last east coast call on a South China service, so the sea leg runs about a week longer than Sydney or Melbourne. Plan for it.
• Queenslanders and post-war houses often have tight stairs and high floors. Ask for kitchen pieces over 1 metre to come flat-packed so they carry up the stairs.
• A licensed QBCC contractor installs and certifies the plumbing and electrical. Imported WaterMark and RCM products are installed the same way as local ones.

Questions