How many tons of rice in a 20ft container? The short answer is about 25 metric tons. That’s the number most rice exporters quote and it’s what we load on most of our own shipments. But it isn’t the whole answer, because bag size, rice type, the shipping line and the road rules in your country can push that figure up or down by a few tons. We’re DThai Company Limited, a rice exporter in Thailand, and we sell Thai rice by the full container to importers, wholesalers and distributors worldwide. Below is what actually fits, why, and what we put in every box we ship.
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The Quick Answer: How Many Tons of Rice in a 20ft Container
For milled white rice packed in 25kg or 50kg bags, a standard 20ft container takes 25 metric tons. Some shipping lines and ports will accept 26 or 27 tons, and a few buyers ask us to go lighter, around 23 or 24 tons, because of trucking limits at their end.
So if someone asks you how many tons of rice in a 20ft container, “25 tons” is a safe answer for planning and pricing. Just treat it as a starting point. The real number for your order depends on the things we go through below.
| Packing | Bags per 20ft container | Net weight |
|---|---|---|
| 50kg PP woven bags | 500 bags | 25 MT |
| 25kg PP woven bags | 1,000 bags | 25 MT |
| 10kg bags (in 20kg or 30kg master bales) | About 2,300 to 2,400 bags | 23 to 24 MT |
| 5kg bags (in 25kg master bales) | About 4,600 to 4,800 bags | 23 to 24 MT |
| 1kg bags (in bales or cartons) | About 20,000 to 22,000 packs | 20 to 22 MT |
| 1,000kg jumbo bags | 20 bags | 20 MT |
| Bulk with liner bag | Loose, blown in | 24 to 26 MT |
Those retail-pack figures are what we usually manage. So for small packs, how many tons of rice in a 20ft container you get is closer to 20 than 25. Small packs eat space with air, cartons and bale wrapping, so the container fills up before it gets heavy.
Why the Answer Is 25 Tons and Not More
To understand how many tons of rice in a 20ft container is realistic, start with the box itself. A standard 20ft dry container is about 5.9 meters long, 2.35 meters wide and 2.39 meters high inside. That’s roughly 33 cubic meters. On paper its maximum gross weight is 30,480kg, and the empty box weighs around 2,200 to 2,300kg, so the theoretical payload is close to 28 tons.
Rice is heavy for its size. Milled rice weighs somewhere around 0.78 to 0.85 tons per cubic meter, depending on the variety. Twenty-five tons of bagged rice takes up about 30 to 32 cubic meters once you allow for gaps between bags. So with rice, a 20ft box runs out of weight allowance and space at almost the same point. That’s the real reason the trade settled on 25 tons as the answer to how many tons of rice in a 20ft container.
Could you squeeze in 27 tons? Sometimes. But you’d be close to the limit on gross weight, and many lines charge overweight fees or refuse the booking. Most of the time, 25 tons is the sweet spot, and it’s the figure we use when a buyer first asks how many tons of rice in a 20ft container we can ship.
How Bag Size Changes How Many Tons of Rice in a 20ft Container You Get
Bag size is the single biggest factor after the container itself. Big bags stack tight and leave little air. Small bags don’t.
25kg and 50kg bags
For a full comparison of bag types, liners and labels, see our guide to rice packaging for export.
These are the standard export packs. We use new PP woven bags, usually with a PE inner liner for jasmine rice so the aroma holds. Five hundred 50kg bags or a thousand 25kg bags gives you 25 tons on the nose. Most wholesalers and food service buyers order these, and for them the answer to how many tons of rice in a 20ft container is simply 25.
Retail packs: 1kg, 2kg, 5kg and 10kg
If you sell straight to supermarkets, you’ll want retail packs. We pack them into master bales or cartons. Expect 20 to 24 tons per container depending on the pack. When a buyer tells us they want a full 25 tons in 1kg packs, we usually suggest a 40ft high cube instead, or a mix of retail and 25kg bags in the same box.
Jumbo bags
One-ton jumbo bags fit 10 on the floor and 10 on top, so 20 tons. Mills and repackers sometimes like these because they’re fast to unload with a forklift. You lose about 5 tons of capacity per box, though, so the freight cost per ton goes up.
Bulk with a liner
Some industrial buyers want rice loaded loose into a liner bag inside the container. You can get 24 to 26 tons this way. It’s cheaper on packing but you need the right unloading setup at your end, and not every port or warehouse is ready for it.
Does the Rice Type Matter?
A little, but not as much as people think. Different rice has slightly different density, so how many tons of rice in a 20ft container you get can shift a bit by variety. In practice the difference is small and we still load most types at 25 tons. Here’s how our main products usually work out:
- Thai Hom Mali rice: 25 MT in 25kg or 50kg bags. Long, slender grain.
- Jasmine rice and Thai fragrant rice: 25 MT. (Comparing origins? See Thai jasmine rice vs Vietnamese jasmine rice.)
- Thai white rice and long-grain white rice: 25 MT.
- Parboiled rice: 25 MT, sometimes a touch more because the grain is dense and hard.
- Thai white glutinous rice: 25 MT.
- Brown rice, red rice and black rice: usually 24 to 25 MT. These often go in smaller packs, which brings the number down.
So for nearly every grade we sell, how many tons of rice in a 20ft container comes back to the same 25 tons. Broken rice is the one exception that loads heavy, because small pieces pack together tightly. We don’t push past the line’s weight limit just because it fits.
20ft vs 40ft: A Common Mistake
A lot of first-time buyers assume a 40ft container carries twice as much rice as a 20ft. It doesn’t. A 40ft box has twice the space, but its maximum payload is only about 26 to 27 tons, because the container itself is heavier and the gross weight limit barely moves.
So how many tons of rice in a 20ft container compared with a 40ft? With 25kg or 50kg bags, a 40ft gives you maybe one or two extra tons, and the freight usually costs more. For heavy bagged rice, two 20ft containers almost always beat one 40ft. The 40ft only makes sense for light, bulky retail packs where you’d run out of space in a 20ft before you hit the weight limit.
When people ask us how many tons of rice in a 20ft container versus a 40ft, we tell them to compare the freight per ton, not the size of the box.
Shipping Line and Port Limits
Each shipping line sets its own maximum weight per container, and it can change by route. Some allow 28 tons of cargo in a 20ft. Others cap at 25 or charge a surcharge above a set weight. Since 2016, every export container also needs a Verified Gross Mass under the SOLAS rules, so the weight is checked and declared before it goes on the ship. There’s no hiding an overloaded box.
Before we confirm how many tons of rice in a 20ft container we’ll load for your order, we check the booking with the line on your route. If the line or the port has a lower limit, we adjust the load and tell you upfront.
Road Weight Limits at Your End
This one catches buyers out. Your rice has to get from the port to your warehouse on a truck, and many countries limit how heavy that truck can be on public roads. In some places a 20ft container with 25 tons of rice plus the truck and trailer goes over the legal axle limit.
If that’s your situation, we load lighter, often 22 to 24 tons, so you don’t get fined or have the box held at the port gate. Check with your customs broker or trucking company before you order, because for you the honest answer to how many tons of rice in a 20ft container might be 22, not 25. It’s a five-minute phone call that can save a lot of trouble.
Our Rice Specifications for Container Orders
Knowing how many tons of rice in a 20ft container is only part of it. You also need to know what’s inside those bags. Here are the specs we ship to for our main export grades. We can tighten most of these on request.
| Parameter | Thai Hom Mali 100% | Thai jasmine / fragrant | Thai white rice 5% | Parboiled 5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broken (max) | 4 to 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Moisture (max) | 14% | 14% | 14% | 14% |
| Average grain length | 7.0mm min | 6.8 to 7.0mm | 6.8mm min | 6.8mm min |
| Purity | 92% Hom Mali min | As agreed | N/A | N/A |
| Chalky kernels (max) | 6% | 6% | 6% | N/A |
| Damaged / yellow (max) | 0.25% / 0.2% | 0.25% / 0.2% | 0.25% / 0.2% | 0.5% |
| Foreign matter (max) | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Crop | Latest crop, milled to order | |||
| Load per 20ft | 25 MT standard (adjusted for line and road limits) | |||
| Loading ports | Bangkok or Laem Chabang | |||
We also sell basmati rice, medium-grain rice, short-grain rice, arborio and Texmati. If you’re not sure which grade fits your market, our guide to types of Thai rice for export walks through each one.
How We Load a Rice Container
A container that arrives damp or full of weevils is worth a lot less than the invoice says. So the loading matters as much as the tonnage. This is what we do on every box:
- We inspect the empty container. No holes, no rust patches letting light in, no smell, dry floor.
- We line the walls and floor with kraft paper and hang desiccant bags along the sides. Rice crossing the equator goes through big temperature swings, and moisture drips off the roof. That’s container rain, and it ruins the top layers if you don’t plan for it.
- We stack bags in a tight, interlocking pattern so nothing shifts at sea.
- The rice is fumigated before or right after stuffing, and you get a fumigation certificate.
- An independent inspector checks quality, weight and packing at loading if you want one. Most buyers do, and we encourage it.
- We seal the container, record the seal number, and send you photos of every stage.
Good loading also protects the number you paid for. How many tons of rice in a 20ft container left Thailand should match what lands at your port, and the independent weight certificate proves it. If you’d like to understand the full process from contract to arrival, read our guide on how to import rice from Thailand.
Working Out Your Cost Per Ton
Once you know how many tons of rice in a 20ft container you’ll get, you can work out your landed cost per ton. It’s simple maths, and it’s worth doing before you compare suppliers.
Say the freight from Bangkok to your port is a flat amount per 20ft box. Divide it by 25 and you have freight per ton. This is where knowing how many tons of rice in a 20ft container you’ll actually get really pays off. If you load 20 tons because you chose 1kg packs, the same freight is now spread over 20 tons, so each ton costs 25% more to ship. That’s why bag size isn’t just a packing question. It changes your price.
Add the rice price, the freight per ton, insurance, port charges, duty and trucking, and you have your real cost. For a deeper look at how rice is priced, see our wholesale rice pricing guide.
Quick Reference: How Many Tons of Rice in a 20ft Container by Order Type
Here are the questions we get most, answered the way we answer them on the phone.
Wholesale order in 50kg bags
How many tons of rice in a 20ft container for a wholesale order in 50kg bags? 25 tons, 500 bags. This is the most common order we load, and it gives you the lowest freight per ton.
Restaurant and food service supply in 25kg bags
Same weight, 25 tons, but 1,000 bags. The 25kg bag is easier for one person to lift, which is why restaurants and caterers like it. If you supply hotels or kitchens, this is usually the pack to pick.
Supermarket order in 5kg and 1kg packs
Here how many tons of rice in a 20ft container drops to around 20 to 24 tons, because the packs and master bales take up space. Mixing some 25kg bags into the same container is a good way to fill the weight back up.
Mill or repacker buying jumbo bags
Twenty tons in 20 jumbo bags. You lose some capacity but save a lot of time at unloading.
Mixed container with several grades
If you mix Hom Mali, white rice and glutinous rice in one box, how many tons of rice in a 20ft container you end up with depends on the pack mix, but with standard bags it still lands at about 25 tons. We send you a load plan before we pack so there are no surprises.
FOB or CIF?
We sell on FOB (you book the ship) or CFR and CIF (we book it). If you already work with a freight forwarder and get good rates, FOB gives you control. If this is your first order or you buy a few containers a year, CIF is often easier, because we handle the booking and you get a single price delivered to your port. Our post on FOB vs CIF for rice import goes deeper. The Incoterms rules from the ICC spell out who pays and who carries the risk at each point.
Documents That Come With Every Container
Every shipment leaves with a full set of papers. Your bank, customs and the importing authority will want most of these:
- Commercial invoice and packing list, each showing the correct HS code for jasmine rice or other grade
- Bill of lading
- Certificate of origin (Form A, Form D or others where trade deals apply)
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Fumigation certificate
- Quality, weight and packing certificate from an independent inspector
- Any extra papers your country asks for, like a health certificate or non-GMO statement
We cover each document, and what goes wrong when one is missing, in our post on bulk rice import documentation.
Mistakes We See Buyers Make
We’ve loaded a lot of containers, and most problems start with a wrong guess about how many tons of rice in a 20ft container the order will take. These are the mistakes that come up again and again:
- Pricing on 25 tons, then ordering retail packs. The quote changes because the load drops. Tell your supplier the pack size before you ask for a price.
- Booking a 40ft for 25kg bags. You pay more freight for almost no extra rice.
- Ignoring road limits. The container clears customs and then sits at the port because no truck can legally carry it.
- Skipping the liner and desiccant to save a few dollars. Container rain doesn’t care about your budget.
- Taking a supplier’s word on weight. Ask how many tons of rice in a 20ft container they will load for your route, and get it on the contract.
- Not asking for loading photos. Any decent exporter will send them without a fight. If yours won’t, that tells you something.
Getting the question of how many tons of rice in a 20ft container right at the quoting stage avoids most of these.
Minimum Order and Lead Time
Our minimum order is one 20ft container, and since you now know how many tons of rice in a 20ft container to expect, that means roughly 25 tons. You can mix grades or pack sizes in that one container if you want to test a few products in your market. Most buyers start that way.
Lead time is usually two to three weeks from a confirmed contract and payment terms to loading, depending on the grade, the pack and whether you need custom printed bags. For private label rice, allow extra time for bag printing on the first order.
If you need regular supply, we can set up a monthly or quarterly contract so you’re not chasing prices every time. See our supply contracts page for how that works.
Where We Ship
We ship rice from Bangkok and Laem Chabang to buyers in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North and South America, the Caribbean and Oceania. Transit times and container weight rules vary a lot between these markets, so we always check how many tons of rice in a 20ft container your route allows before we quote. Our worldwide shipping page has more on routes and timing, and our post on bulk container shipping from Thailand covers lead times in detail. Whatever the destination, how many tons of rice in a 20ft container we load is always confirmed in writing on your contract.
Why Buy Your Rice Container From DThai
There are plenty of rice sellers out there. Here’s what we think makes the difference with us:
- We tell you the real load for your route and pack before you sign, not after the box is booked.
- We mill to order, so you get fresh rice, not something sitting in a warehouse for months.
- We welcome independent inspection at loading.
- You get photos of every container, from empty box to sealed doors.
- We sell the full range of Thai rice, plus sugar and sunflower oil, so you can build mixed orders with one supplier.
And when you ask us how many tons of rice in a 20ft container we’ll load, you get a real number for your route, not a sales pitch. You can read more about us on our why choose us page, or see the full range on our rice for sale page.
How to Order a Container of Rice
- Tell us the rice grade, pack size, quantity and your destination port.
- We confirm how many tons of rice in a 20ft container we can load for your route, then send you a quote.
- We send a sample if you want one.
- We agree a contract, payment terms and the inspection company.
- We mill, pack, load and send you photos and documents.
- The ship sails and you track it to your port.
Ready to get a price? Contact us with your order details and we’ll come back to you quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tons of rice in a 20ft container is standard?
Twenty-five metric tons is the standard for milled rice in 25kg or 50kg bags. It can be 23 to 27 tons depending on the shipping line, the route and your local road limits.
How many 50kg bags of rice fit in a 20ft container?
Five hundred bags, which is 25 tons. That’s the classic answer to how many tons of rice in a 20ft container for wholesale buyers.
How many 25kg bags of rice fit in a 20ft container?
One thousand bags, also 25 tons.
How many tons of rice in a 40ft container?
Usually 25 to 27 tons. A 40ft has more space but not much more weight allowance, so it’s rarely worth it for heavy bagged rice.
Why do some suppliers quote 27 tons in a 20ft?
Some shipping lines allow it on some routes. It’s possible, but check that the line, the port and your trucks can all handle the weight before you agree to it.
Can I mix rice types in one container?
Yes. You can mix grades and pack sizes. We’ll work out the total weight so it stays inside the limits and tell you exactly how many tons of rice in a 20ft container that mix comes to.
What’s the minimum order?
One 20ft container.
Do you ship worldwide?
Yes. We ship Thai rice to every region, from the Middle East and Africa to Europe, the Americas and the Pacific.
So, how many tons of rice in a 20ft container? Plan on 25 and let your supplier confirm the exact figure for your bags and your route. If you want that answer for your own order, along with a price, send us a message. We’ll tell you straight what fits and what it costs.