Forum Moderators: buckworks
If possible, can you let me know what the average costs of shipping and insurance are. I am finding it difficult to locate manufacturers who will do busine on a CIF basis.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Regards
Blue
We happen to use Panalpina, but there are plenty of other agents to select from - the information below is general and would apply to most agents that have worldwide offices. We just chose Panalpina as one of our suppliers used them to send goods to us and they seemed efficient enough, they have their own offices in the countries we import from (not just a network of other agents), are reasonably priced, and are big enough to shout at if anything went wrong :)
If we need quotes or to arrange a shipment then I contact one of my account managers at my local Panalpina depot (Sea and Air freight are handles by different people but both at the same office) an they would arrange it through relevant local Panalpina office wherever the freight is coming from.
To get an accurate quote for your circumstances you'd obviously need to contact a forwarder directly with your requirements.
Its important to be aware of the difference between the normal weight of the goods and the Volumetric weight which compensates for the size of the item instead of its actual weight. There are plenty of sites that can explain this, or I would be happy to.
The actual cost of the air or sea freight is often a very small proportion of the total charges.
As an example here is a sample quote for Air freight from Hong Kong to London:
Air freight £1.57 per kilo
Hong Kong Charges:
Terminal charges £0.12/kg(minimum £1.14)
Handling & document £20.71 per shipment
Loading charge £0.05 / kg (minimum £11.42)
Collection within HKG £0.10/kg (minimum £34.50)
London Heathrow Charges:
Airline Handling £0.15/kg minimum £32.50
Customs clearance £55.00
Collection from Airline £0.06/kg minimum £10.00
Delivery to our warehouse £15.00 + £0.10p/kg
Other costs you need to be aware of are:
- Any local duties and taxes on import
- Any current fuel or security surcharges (up to 5%)
To put these charges into context, say we are brining over some cartons of widgets from HKG to UK by Air Freight.
Each carton contains 20 widgets and weighs 1.8Kg, but its volumetric weight is 3.34kg, so its charged on the higher of the two.
If we brought 1 Carton - the total costs would be approx £175 (approx US$315)
If we brought 10 Cartons - the total costs would be approx £230 (approx US$414)
If we brought 30 Cartons - the total costs would be approx £337 (approx US$606)
If we brought 60 Cartons - the total costs would be approx £502 (approx US$903)
For smaller quantities it would generally work out cheaper to use an express service from the likes of FedEx or UPS assuming the sender has good rates.
Feel free to send me a stickymail if you want more detailed advice.
Regards,
jules.
Many thanks, Mustard
I am still looking for a company, many wont talk to you at all. I can get the stuiff to Felixstowe and then its a hassle to onward freight it and get rid of the container.
I am now talking to the folks at www.kayoneil.com as I am informed that they can handle a straight through service.
Will let you know how it all pans out.
