Tefloor Export Division · B2B Sourcing Guide
If you are an importer, distributor or project contractor looking at premium commercial carpet for the Asia Pacific, Middle East or European markets, two names will dominate your shortlist: Mohawk Group and Shaw Contract. They are often mentioned together — and often confused. They are not one company, and knowing the difference will save you real money on freight, lead time and certification paperwork.
First, the distinction that matters
Mohawk Group is the commercial flooring division of Mohawk Industries, headquartered in Calhoun, Georgia. Its brand family includes Mohawk (corporate/commercial), Durkan (hospitality), Lees (high-traffic institutional), Bigelow (facility-led) and Karastan (premium residential).
Shaw Contract is the premium commercial brand of Shaw Industries Group, headquartered in Dalton, Georgia — a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. Its commercial siblings are Patcraft and Philadelphia Commercial.
Both are among the world’s largest flooring manufacturers. But for an export buyer, the critical difference is this: Shaw manufactures inside Asia. Mohawk serves Asia from a regional stocking and quick-ship model. That single fact drives your landed cost and your delivery schedule.
Shaw Contract: the regional manufacturing advantage
Shaw’s Nantong, Jiangsu facility (Plant CN) opened in 2013 — the company’s first manufacturing base outside the United States, built with an investment of roughly US$45 million across some 21,000 m². It is a carbon-neutral, LEED NC Silver certified plant, and it was the first facility in Asia to produce Cradle to Cradle Certified carpet.
For a buyer, what Nantong delivers is measurable:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Products | Carpet tile, LVT/EVT, rugs |
| Range | 33 collections, 96 styles, 1,000+ colourways |
| Market served | 20 countries across APAC |
| Standard lead time | 4–6 weeks |
| Quick-ship carpet tile | 2 weeks |
| In-stock programme | Immediate dispatch, carpet tile + hard surface |
| Certification | 100% of Nantong output is Cradle to Cradle certified |
Because the goods are already in Asia, freight is regional rather than trans-Pacific, lead times are shorter, and technical support operates in APAC time zones. On large hotel, office and education tenders, this is frequently the deciding factor.
Core technology — EcoWorx® backing. PVC-free and bitumen-free, 100% recyclable, and historically the first flooring product to earn Cradle to Cradle certification (2005), re-certified against the stricter v4.0 standard in 2021. Paired with Eco Solution Q nylon, it gives you a materials-health story that satisfies most green building submittals without a separate documentation hunt. All products are also available as carbon-neutral versions with project-specific certification.
Region-relevant design. Shaw has genuinely localised: Asian Landscapes builds four narratives from regional geography — Desert (Mui Ne, Thar), Snow Cap (Himalaya, Fuji), Rainforest (Assam, Borneo), Coast — while Haven was developed specifically for Chinese users, designed to install seamlessly without transition strips.
Mohawk Group: engineering and transparency
Mohawk’s APAC presence is anchored by its Shanghai showroom (The Place, 100 Zunyi Road) and a Sydney showroom, backed by the Asia Pacific Quick Ship programme: orders of 2,000 m² or less ship within 10 business days, with many styles held in stock for immediate regional dispatch.
Core technology — EcoFlex™ backings.
- EcoFlex™ NXT: polyolefin, no PVC, no plasticisers, ~40% lighter than comparable PVC tile, minimum 35% pre-consumer recycled content, NSF/ANSI 140 Gold, Declare Red List Free. Lighter tile means lower freight cost per square metre — a direct landed-cost benefit.
- Compatible with FlexLok®, an adhesive-free tab system that tolerates slab moisture well beyond conventional glue-down limits, reducing subfloor prep cost on site.
- EcoFlex™ Matrix ULC: ultra-low carbon backing at 3.92 kg CO₂/m², produced at Mohawk’s Living Site facility in Glasgow, Virginia.
Surface fibre — Duracolor® / Duracolor® Tricor solution-dyed nylon, with a modified triangular cross-section engineered for stain resistance, colourfastness and soil hiding.
Sustainability, documented. Since 2022 all Mohawk Group floorcovering is Beyond Carbon Neutral (an extra 5% offset beyond neutral). Mohawk is a signatory of The Climate Pledge, targets net-zero before 2040, and maintains one of the industry’s largest transparency libraries — 500+ Red List Free products, plus Declare labels, HPDs and product-specific EPDs. There is also a public Sustainability Estimator that quantifies a project’s impact by area — useful if your client needs a number for an ESG report.
Which one for which project
- Programme-driven projects (fixed handover dates, fast-track fit-out): Shaw’s Nantong in-stock and 2-week quick-ship, or Mohawk’s 10-business-day Quick Ship — write the commitment into the tender as a compliance item, not an assumption.
- Green building submittals: Shaw gives you uniform Cradle to Cradle coverage across the whole Nantong schedule; Mohawk gives you the stronger headline (net-positive, Living Product petal certification).
- Hospitality: Durkan (Mohawk) for high-style public space; Shaw for large-format consistency across guest-room floors.
- Weight-sensitive or remote destinations: Mohawk’s lighter NXT backing reduces freight per m² — worth modelling on long-haul shipments.
Export & logistics notes
These are the points overseas buyers ask us about most. Rates and rules change — please verify with your customs broker before contracting.
HS classification. Tufted carpet tiles generally fall under HS Chapter 57, heading 5703:
- Nylon/other polyamides, tufted, tiles ≤1 m²: 5703.29 (EU CN 5703 29 91 non-printed / 5703 29 10 printed)
- Other man-made textile materials, tufted tiles ≤1 m²: 5703 39
- Wool tufted: 5703 10
For reference, the EU third-country (MFN) duty under 5703 is around 8%, while various preferential programmes apply. On the China export side, tufted carpets under 5703 currently carry a 13% export rebate — a meaningful factor in export pricing. Under China–ASEAN FTA (Form E), nylon tufted carpet (57032900) may enter several Southeast Asian markets at 0%, with RCEP rates applying elsewhere. Confirm the exact code and current rate for your destination before quoting.
Packing and container loading. Carpet tile is a bulky but relatively light cargo, so containers typically cube out or weight out depending on backing and pile weight. A widely used industry benchmark for 500 × 500 mm tile is roughly 3,400 m² per 20ft container and around 6,000 m² per 40ft HQ (e.g. 24 pieces/box, 32 boxes/pallet). Cushion-backed and heavier commercial constructions will load less. We provide a per-style packing calculation — cartons per pallet, pallets per container, net/gross weight — before you confirm the order, so you can model landed cost accurately.
Documents we can supply with shipment:
- Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading
- Certificate of Origin / Form E / RCEP Certificate of Origin (where applicable)
- Fire test report — ASTM E648 (critical radiant flux, Class I), EN 13501-1, or GB 8624 B1 as required by destination
- CRI Green Label Plus indoor air quality certificate
- EPD / Declare label / HPD for green building submittals
- Manufacturer warranty certificate and dye-lot records
- Installation and maintenance manuals
Samples. We dispatch sample tiles and full sample folders by international courier. For custom or project-specific colourways, lead times vary by brand and should be confirmed at enquiry stage.
Working with Tefloor
Tefloor supports overseas buyers, distributors and project contractors with:
- Brand sourcing across Mohawk Group, Shaw Contract and Milliken portfolios, with style cross-referencing when a specified colourway is discontinued or out of region
- Landed-cost modelling — product, packing, freight, duty and rebate, so you can price your market before committing
- Consolidation — mixing carpet tile, LVT and accessories in one container to make container weight and volume work harder
- Documentation handling — origin certificates, test reports and certification packs prepared per destination market
- Technical backup — construction, backing and installation guidance, plus attic-stock planning for the facilities team
Specific commercial terms — MOQ per style, FOB port, payment terms and consolidated shipment schedules — are confirmed against your enquiry, as they vary by brand, product line and destination.