An A320 engine cowling struck a belt loader as the aircraft was being guided into the assigned gate. The loader was improperly parked and no wing walkers were available to assist.

Narrative

We arrived at gate as assigned but no guide man was available. We shut down #2 engine while we waited. The guide man came out and marshaled us in. I cleared on the left and verbalized it and my First Officer cleared on the right stating everything was behind the line. Just prior to stopping in the park position my First Officer yelled out for me to stop and I did aggressively. He stated he thought we may have made contact with a belt loader. We then remained in position and the jetway was connected as we were almost on the parking stop spot. We shut down; completed checklists; and went down to the ramp. The #2 engine had brushed a belt loader and the bottom outside right nacelle was scratched. A Ramp Supervisor told us the guide man should not have brought us in without a wing walker; also that the belt loader was improperly parked even though behind the red line. The aircraft was perfectly centered on the parking line. The Ramp Supervisor stated engineering was on the way as there was no significant damage other than some scratches.