Mr Quyen - Santiago. Posted 03/11/2026
South African importers can bring Santiago ASA/PVC roof tile sheets and accessories from Vietnam to Durban by the 40 ft container, about 5,000 m of sheet, with colours, profiles and accessories mixed. Production takes about 5 days and the goods ship under HS 3925.90.00. South Africa has no trade-agreement preference with Vietnam for this product, so check the duty rate with your clearing agent.
Timber house with a dark grey tile-sheet roof, Long An, Vietnam
Who imports PVC roofing sheet by the container in South Africa?
This guide is for building-supply dealers, roofing contractors, timber-frame home builders and developers of game lodges and holiday chalets who want to buy PVC roofing sheet straight from the factory. Santiago Import Export Co., Ltd makes ASA/PVC roof tile sheets, corrugated sheets and their accessories in Vietnam, and has exported to India since 2023, Thailand since 2024 and the USA since 2025.
Santiago supplies sheets and accessories and sends installation videos. It does not install, so the importer keeps the link with the contractors who put the roofs on. That matters for the warranty, which depends on how the roof is installed (see below).
Why do lodges and timber houses use a dark tile-sheet roof?
Lodge and chalet owners in the bushveld and on the coast often want a roof that looks like tile but sits on a light timber frame. A 2.5 mm tile sheet weighs about 5.4 kg per m² of roof, so a 53 m² chalet roof carries about 286 kg of sheet. Dark grey and chocolate are the colours that sit quietly among trees and thatch, and both are standard.
Guests notice two other things. In Santiago tests the space under ASA/PVC sheet stays about 6 – 8 °C cooler than under bare metal sheet, and rain noise is about 80% lower than on metal. For a chalet with no ceiling, the underside matters too: the standard underside is milky white, and a dark underside is made to order for owners who want it to match exposed timber rafters.
Wooden house with a dark tile-sheet roof and a garden, Long An, Vietnam
How do you plan a 40 ft container around a lodge project?
A lodge rarely fills a container by itself, so most importers combine one project with stock for their yard. In this worked example a game lodge orders 12 identical chalets and a main lodge building, and the importer fills the rest with stock. Each chalet has a gable roof 8.4 m long with faces of 3.0 m: 9 sheets per face (8.64 m) at 14 tile steps (3,066 mm), which is 18 sheets and about 53 m² of roof per chalet.
| Line in the container | Working | Running metres | Roof covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 chalet roofs, dark grey | 18 sheets × 3,066 mm × 12 | about 662 m | about 636 m² |
| Main lodge hip roof, chocolate | 380 m² ÷ 0.96 m | about 396 m, plus hip offcuts | about 380 m² |
| Yard stock, tile sheet, dark grey | Importer's choice | 2,000 m | about 1,920 m² |
| Yard stock, tile sheet, red | Importer's choice | 1,000 m | about 960 m² |
| Yard stock, 5-wave corrugated sheet | For sheds, stores and staff housing | 900 m | about 900 m² |
| Ridge caps, hip ridges, terminals, eave pieces, ASA caps | To match each colour | Space set in the loading plan | – |
The sheet lines add up to about 4,960 m, close to the 5,000 m a 40 ft container holds. The split between sheet and accessories is fixed in the written quotation and the loading plan, because accessories take space too. Tile sheets are cut to length in 219 mm steps before loading, so the chalet lengths must be final before production starts; the yard stock is best ordered in the two or three lengths your contractors use most. The hip offcut allowance for the main lodge comes from your installer's drawing, not from a rule of thumb.
Which documents come with a Durban shipment?
A Santiago export shipment comes with the trade papers your clearing agent works from and the quality papers your customers may ask for:
- Commercial invoice and packing list, with profile, colour, thickness, length and quantity for each line
- Bill of lading
- Certificate of origin issued in Vietnam, if your clearing agent needs one
- Quality certificate (CQ) for every lot
- Copy of the ISO 9001:2015 certificate ICI-23087.D
- Quatest test results for the sheet
Send the HS code (3925.90.00), a product description and a sample photo to your clearing agent before the first order. Ask for the duty rate in writing and ask which papers South African customs will want for roofing sheet, so nothing is missing when the container reaches Durban.
Long timber house with a tile-sheet roof, Long An, Vietnam
What warranty terms should you get in writing?
The Santiago warranty is 10 years for sheets 2.5 mm and thicker, when the roof is installed as Santiago recommends. An importer who sells to many contractors should know exactly what "as recommended" means, and pass it on with every sale. This is what Santiago states:
| Warranty point | What Santiago states |
|---|---|
| Thickness covered | 2.5 mm and thicker |
| Period | 10 years |
| Purlins | Less than 700 mm apart: 440 or 660 mm for the tile sheet, one under each tile step foot |
| Roof slope | 20 – 45% |
| Screws | 70 mm, through the top of the wave over a purlin, in pre-drilled 6 mm holes, with ASA caps; 4 – 5 sets per m²; never in the valley |
| Side lap | One wave |
| Colour | No colour change after 2,000 hours of artificial UV; colour rated 30 years |
| Proof of quality | Quality certificate (CQ) with every lot |
Keep the CQ for each lot and write the lot on your delivery notes to contractors. If a customer raises a problem years later, you can match the roof to the lot. Hand the installation videos to every contractor who buys from you; a roof screwed in the valley or laid on purlins 900 mm apart is outside the warranty no matter who supplied the sheet.
How should an importer check samples before the first container?
Order samples before you commit to 5,000 m. Samples are free; you pay the courier. Then check them yourself:
- Look at a cut edge: four co-extruded layers with no glue, an ASA top layer, virgin PVC, a PVC core and a milky-white PVC base.
- Measure the thickness with a caliper; 2.5 mm is the minimum for a roof.
- Weigh a piece: a 2.5 mm tile sheet comes to about 5.4 kg per m² of roof, and a 2.5 mm corrugated sheet about 5.2 kg per running metre.
- Hold the colours outdoors next to the materials your customers build with: timber, thatch, face brick, plaster.
- Put a ridge cap on the sheet sample and check that the colours match.
- If you plan to sell to lodges with open rafters, ask for a dark-underside sample as well.
- Confirm profile, colour, thickness, lengths, accessories, port and quantity in writing.
Timber houses with dark tile-sheet roofs among trees, Long An, Vietnam
Prices are quoted per order in writing, by profile, colour, thickness, lengths, accessories and quantity. For the roof itself, the sizes, colours and a worked example for a house are in our guide to PVC roof tiles for South African homes.
Where are the sheets made? A walk through the Santiago factory
Mr Quyen walks through the Santiago factory in Vietnam and explains it in English: roof tiles and ridge pieces in the yard, a green 5-wave sheet coming off the line, a delivery truck, and the warehouses where a container is being loaded.
Inside the Santiago ASA/PVC roofing factory in Vietnam (Santiago video on YouTube).
More shorts for importers in South Africa
Three more English shorts from the Santiago YouTube channel. Each one is about a minute or less.
How are tile sheets loaded for a shipment to Durban?
This one-minute short is the loading process for an export order: orange sheets go down a ramp into the container and the crew stacks them inside, with Mr Quyen explaining in English.
Loading PVC roof tiles into an export container (Santiago video on YouTube).
Which ridge caps and fittings can be added to an order?
Red ridge caps and tile sheets stacked in the Santiago warehouse, filmed for buyers who order under their own brand (OEM).
Red ridge caps and tile sheets in the Santiago warehouse (Santiago video on YouTube).
What does an importer get: factory stock and finished roofs
From the factory floor to the roof in about a minute: brown tile sheets stacked at Santiago, a finished grey roof walked end to end, and installers lifting a sheet into place.
Santiago uPVC tile sheets from the factory to the roof (Santiago video on YouTube).
Santiago – a leading exporter of ASA/PVC roofing from Vietnam
Santiago roofing is produced and loaded into containers at our factory in Vietnam. It has been exported to India since 2023, Thailand since 2024 and the USA since 2025. Every export shipment comes with a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and a certificate of origin (C/O) issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, which importers use to claim the duty preference of their trade agreement.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| HS code | 3925.90.00 (ASA/PVC roofing sheets) |
| Certificate of origin | Form D (ASEAN), Form AI (India), Form AK / VK (Korea), Form AJ / VJ (Japan), Form VC (Chile), CPTPP proof of origin |
| Shipped from | Vietnam, by container |
Certificate of origin Form AI (ASEAN–India) for Santiago ASA/PVC roofing sheets, HS 39259000, certified on 24 September 2026. Buyer details are hidden.
The Santiago team beside a loaded export container at the factory, November 2024
Loading Santiago roof tiles into an export container
Frequently asked questions
Can I import PVC roofing sheet from Vietnam into South Africa?
Yes. Santiago ships ASA/PVC tile sheets, corrugated sheets and accessories by the 40 ft container to Durban. Your clearing agent handles customs and confirms the duty rate.
What is the minimum order?
One 40 ft container, about 5,000 m of sheet. Colours, profiles and accessories can be mixed in it.
Is there a trade-agreement duty preference between South Africa and Vietnam for roofing sheet?
No. Check the duty rate for HS 3925.90.00 with your clearing agent before ordering.
What does the Santiago warranty cover?
10 years for sheets 2.5 mm and thicker, when installed as Santiago recommends: purlins less than 700 mm apart, slope 20 – 45%, screws through the top of the wave with ASA caps.
Are dark undersides available for timber lodges?
Yes. The standard underside is milky white; a dark underside is made to order.
Read more
- Santiago export markets and certificates of origin
- How Santiago loads an export container
- Checks to run on a PVC roofing sheet supplier
- PVC roof tiles for South African homes and granny flats
- ASA/PVC roof tile sheet
Sources for the figures in this article
- Profiles, 2.5–3.0 mm thickness and 10-year warranty: Santiago ASA/PVC product specification.
- About 6–8 °C cooler than bare metal sheet and about 80% less rain noise: Santiago's own comparisons on finished roofs in Vietnam.
- HS code 3925.90.00: Harmonized System Chapter 39 (builders' ware of plastics), as applied in Vietnam's export tariff.
- Certificates of origin (Form D, AI, AK/VK, AJ/VJ, VC, CPTPP): issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade under the country's free trade agreements.
- Minimum order of one 40 ft container (about 5,000 m) and about 5 days for production and loading: Santiago export desk, October 2026.
Updated 03/11/2026. Santiago Import Export Co., Ltd, Vietnam. WhatsApp +84 935 391 495 (Mr. Quyen), hotline +84 965 437 316 (Mrs. Ly), email salessantiagoroofing@gmail.com.
