Export terms
Shipping machinery
from Shandong, China
The three price terms we quote
All three are sea-freight terms under Incoterms 2020, and all three hand over risk at the same moment: when the machine is on board at the load port. What changes between them is who arranges and pays for what happens next. Give us a destination port and we will quote whichever you prefer.
FOB
We deliver the machine on board the vessel you or your forwarder nominate at the Chinese load port, cleared for export. Everything from that rail onward — the ocean freight, the insurance, the destination charges and the customs clearance — is on your side.
Use it when you have your own forwarder, a freight contract, or a consolidation running from China already.
CFR
We do everything under FOB and then contract and pay the ocean freight through to your named discharge port. Risk still passes to you once the goods are on board, so the cargo travels at your risk even though we booked it.
Use it when you want one landed-to-port figure but carry your own cargo insurance.
CIF
CFR plus marine insurance, which we take out for 110% of the contract value in the contract currency and assign to you. Under Incoterms 2020 the minimum cover for CIF is the restricted set of clauses; we will arrange wider all-risks cover on request, which is worth doing for machinery.
Use it when you want the simplest single price, and for most tenders, which are usually written on CIF.
Neither CFR nor CIF includes duty, destination terminal handling, demurrage or inland haulage at your end. If you want those figures estimated so the board sees a true landed cost, ask and we will say so plainly rather than folding a guess into the price.
How a shipment runs
Enquiry and quotation
You send the machine or the tender schedule, the output needed, the destination port and the quantity. We come back with FOB, CFR or CIF, a lead time, and what the destination will require on arrival.
Proforma and order
A proforma invoice sets out the specification, the price term, the packing and the schedule. Payment terms are agreed in the supply contract — T/T, or an L/C at sight against documents for tender quantities.
Production and inspection
Build to the agreed specification, then pre-shipment inspection. Where the destination runs a pre-export verification scheme, this is the point at which it happens, and the certificate is issued before the container is sealed.
Packing and loading
Machinery is braced and blocked for ocean carriage: fumigated hardwood or plywood crating as required, desiccant where a crossing is long and humid, and the lashing detailed on the packing list.
Booking and sailing
Space booked, container stuffed and sealed, bill of lading issued. You get the vessel name, the container and seal numbers, and the estimated arrival the day the ship leaves.
Documents and arrival
The document set goes out by courier and by email the same week, so your clearing agent has what customs will ask for well before the vessel is alongside.
What fits in a container
Nominal internal dimensions. The payload a line will actually accept varies with the box, the route and the road limits at your end, so treat the weights as a planning figure and we will confirm the real one against the booking.
| Container | Internal L × W × H | Capacity | Typical payload |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft general purpose | 5.90 × 2.35 × 2.39 m | 33 m³ | around 28 t |
| 40ft general purpose | 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.39 m | 67 m³ | around 26 t |
| 40ft high cube | 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.69 m | 76 m³ | around 26 t |
| 40ft flat rack | 12.03 m deck, open sides and top | by project | around 40 t |
Weight before volume
Most of what we ship — mills, boilers, presses, road equipment — is dense. A 20ft box usually reaches its weight limit with floor space to spare, which is why two 20ft containers often beat one 40ft on a heavy order.
Out-of-gauge machines
Anything over 2.69 m high or 2.35 m wide travels on a flat rack or as breakbulk. Say so at enquiry: it changes the freight, the ports that can take it, and sometimes the route inland at your end.
Part loads
A single machine does not need a container of its own. It consolidates with other cargo and you pay for the cubic metres it occupies, which for one machine is almost always cheaper than a box to yourself.
Long and humid crossings
Machined surfaces are protected and desiccant goes in the crate on the longer routes. Condensation inside a sealed box on a six-week passage ruins more equipment than rough handling does.
The documents that travel with it
Commercial invoice
Machine, specification, quantity, unit and total value, the price term and the currency. The document your customs authority values the consignment from.
Packing list
Case by case: contents, gross and net weights, dimensions and marks, with the container and seal numbers.
Bill of lading
The contract of carriage and the document of title. Issued once the vessel sails, and released to you or to your bank according to the payment terms.
Certificate of origin
Issued in China. Needed for duty assessment and for any preferential rate your country extends to Chinese goods.
Conformity or inspection certificate
Where the destination runs a pre-export scheme. Which one, and whether your HS code is inside its scope, is set out on the certification page.
Insurance policy
On CIF shipments, for 110% of the contract value and assigned to you, so you can claim directly without coming back through us.
Discharge ports we quote to
All markets →| Market | Discharge port | Conformity on arrival |
|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka | Colombo, Hambantota | CE / ISO 9001 as supplied |
| Bangladesh | Chattogram, Mongla | CE / ISO 9001 as supplied |
| Nepal | Kolkata / Haldia, then Birgunj ICD (landlocked) | CE / ISO 9001 as supplied |
| Lebanon | Beirut; Tripoli for heavy and project cargo | IRI verification covers consumer goods only; machinery is outside it |
| Saudi Arabia | Jeddah Islamic Port; King Abdullah Port; Dammam | SABER: product certificate plus a shipment certificate per consignment |
| Turkey | Ambarli and Kocaeli; Mersin; Aliaga | CE marking required; TAREKS application for listed HS codes |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Point Lisas; Port of Spain; Scarborough for Tobago | No pre-shipment scheme; TTBS inspects after arrival and machinery has no compulsory standard |
| Jamaica | Kingston Container Terminal; Montego Bay Freeport | No pre-shipment programme; BSJ compulsory standards cover no industrial machinery |
| Brazil | Santos; Paranagua; Itajai; Rio Grande; Suape | INMETRO is product-specific; complete machines are not a listed family |
| Thailand | Laem Chabang; Bangkok Port for smaller lots | No PVoC; TISI certifies specific items, not machinery |
| Botswana | Durban by rail or road, or Walvis Bay on the Trans-Kalahari Corridor | Certificate of conformity before arrival under S.I. 71 of 2023; testing in the country of origin |
| Egypt | Alexandria and El Dekheila; Port Said; Ain Sokhna | No PVoC; ACID via NAFEZA filed 48 hours before arrival |
| Malaysia | Port Klang (Westports and Northport); Penang | No PVoC; Energy Commission approval covers domestic goods only |
| Philippines | Manila International Container Terminal; Batangas; Subic | Import Commodity Clearance per shipment for listed goods |
| South Africa | Durban; Cape Town; Ngqura; Port Elizabeth | NRCS compulsory specifications are product-specific; LOA held by the importer |
| Vietnam | Lach Huyen and Hai Phong; Cai Mep-Thi Vai; Cat Lai | Medium-risk tier from 1 July 2026; declaration of conformity route |
| Hong Kong | Kwai Tsing Container Terminals | No import product certification for machinery; no customs tariff |
Not on the list? We quote well beyond it — these are simply the markets with a page written for them. Send the port and we will price it.
Common questions
- Which incoterms do you quote?
- FOB, CFR and CIF. Tell us the destination port and the quotation comes back on those terms with a lead time, rather than ex-works with the hard part left to you.
- What is the difference between CFR and CIF?
- CFR covers the sea freight to your port. CIF is the same plus marine insurance, which we buy for 110% of the contract value in the currency of the contract. Under both, risk in the goods passes to you once they are on board at the load port.
- How much machinery fits in a container?
- A 40ft high cube holds about 76 cubic metres and a 20ft about 33. Most of our equipment is dense rather than bulky, so the weight limit is usually reached before the space is. Oversize machines ship on a flat rack or as breakbulk.
- Do you ship single machines or only container loads?
- Both. A single unit consolidates into a shared container; bulk and tender quantities take full containers of their own.
- Which documents come with the shipment?
- Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin as standard, plus the inspection or conformity certificate where the destination requires one, and the insurance policy on CIF terms.
Send the port and the quantity
That plus the machine is enough for a real price on FOB, CFR or CIF terms, with a lead time and the paperwork your customs authority will ask for.