How Do I Ship My Goods? - What CIF and CFR Mean

CIF / CFR - What Do They Mean?

When buying goods under the Intl Trading Terms CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) and CFR (Cost and Freight), your supplier will be responsible for paying any charges at origin and the freight (port to port element) up to a designated point.

For example if you are shipping goods from China to the UK you may agree with your supplier that you will purchase goods under Incoterm "CFR Felixstowe". In this case the supplier will nominate their own carrier and will ship goods to arrival Felixstowe port. If  terms are agreed as "CIF Felixstowe" then supplier should also include cargo insurance. 

The down side of purchasing under CIF / CFR terms is when goods arrive at UK port you have no idea what the carriers destination charges will be, and they can be much higher than you may imagine! We would always advise you when getting a CIF / CFR price for your goods to also ask your supplier to advise what the corresponding destination charges will be.



What Destination Charges Should I Expect To Pay?

• UK Terminal Handling 
• UK Documentation Charge
• CISF (China Import Service Fee)
• ICAF/CAF/ROE (Exchange rate related surcharges)

These charges are exclusive of Customs clearance and delivery charges that your trusted forwarder will provide.



Can I Organise The Shipping Of My Goods, Myself?

If your supplier can not give you 100% confirmation of reasonable UK charges then you should press them for a fresh price for the goods based on different buying terms, namely FOB or Ex works (links to follow). You can contact Mannson Freight for a price to ship goods to UK on this basis.

How Do I Get My Good Insured if I don't buy CIF?

Easy, you can contact the forwarder shipping your goods under FOB or Ex works terms and they should be able to provide full marine insurance cover for theft, damage and total loss at a very reasonable price.

Come to Mannson Freight for a quote and we will ensure you are aware of all the charges that will be incurred, door to door. We provide weekly reliable shipping services from China to UK, India to UK and many other routes as well as air freight, warehousing and full customs clearance services. Contact sales@mannson.com or complete the online quote form.

Need Shipping from Far East to UK? We have got it covered.

Shipping from China to UK - Key Info

Do you need the cost of shipping a 20ft or 40ft container from China to the UK? Here at Mannson Freight we operate our OWN direct services from EVERY port in China. These can be listed below:

Shipping from China to the UK

Shipping from Beijing to the UK

Shipping from Chiwan to the UK

Shipping from Dalian to the UK

Shipping from Fuzhou to the UK

Shipping from Guangzhou to the UK

Shipping from Hong Kong to the UK

Shipping from Huangpu to the UK

Shipping from Jiujiang to the UK

Shipping from Lianyungang to the UK

Shipping from Nanjing to the UK

A simple map of China with some key ports

Shipping from Nantong to the UK

Shipping from Ningbo to the UK

Shipping from Qingdao to the UK

Shipping from Shanghai to the UK

Shipping from Shantou to the UK

Shipping from Shekou to the UK

Shipping from Shenzhen to the UK

Shipping from Tianjin to the UK

Shipping from Wenzhou to the UK

Shipping from Xiamen to the UK

Shipping from Xingang to the UK

Shipping from Yantai to the UK

Many freight forwarders will not operate their own services in a particular area, like the far east and  therefore will outsource to a third party to provide this service to their customers. Whilst this is common practise, here at Mannson, as an importer, you will get the direct price, door to door with a simple breakdown of your costs. This is because we offer our own services throughout the majority of the far east, middle east and Australasia. We have a dedicated sales team who will respond quickly and efficiently to each and every request.

Why use Mannson to quote on your shipping?

• We offer both FCL/LCL rates, full container and part load containers from every port in China
• Door to door costs
• Clear explanation of the costs and terms of business.
• Customs Clearance IN HOUSE
• Clear key information when shipping for the first time
• Shipping transit times and schedules readily available
• Dedicated account managers.
• Monthly rates emailed to all clients
• Regular social media to Facebook, Twitter , and blog entries, your go to place for industry related information.

Global Freight Rates Rise in 2017

Are your shipping rates rising? Here's why:

http://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/Global-ocean-freight-rates-up-one-third-in-first-half-of-2017/69730.htm#.WWaD39KrRH2

Indian & Chinese Import and Export Rates - 2017 so far

The dawn of 2017 saw Container Freight prices start in robust fashion with both import rates from Asia and India to Europe staying strong as well as export rates rising due to reforming of strategic carrier alliances leading to space shortages. Maybe the real surprise for everyone involves with the industry was that these initially strong rates have continued at a similar level through to the third quarter, and if industry intelligence is to be believed may continue to increase or at least hold until the end of the year.

This new tougher stance by carriers has come as a blow to many importers in the UK who have enjoyed very low shipping costs from the Far East, S.E. Asia and Indian Sub-Continent to UK for the past 3-4 years. However it should be said that the shipping industry was itself suffering from the very low rates on offer for the previous years, and cracks were starting to emerge. The tipping point does seem to have been the declaration of Bankruptcy of #Hanjin Shipping in February 2017. Hanjin  were a major player in the containerised shipping trader since 1977, however the huge running costs twinned with dwindling container rates proved too much for the South Korean giant who eventually succumbed to the pressures of competition from even larger carriers and alliances.

In a clear act of necessity the remaining mega container carriers have looked at their own financial health and long term prospects and without exception decided that low balling rates and trying to kill off the competition is not the way to go. New alliances have been formed with carriers now operating in 3 main vessel sharing groups and freight rates have recovered to a healthy level for the carriers. Due to this the services on offer have improved in reliability which is itself beneficial to importers and the end users of their products.

Shipping with Mannson - Rates and Our View 

We at Mannson Freight believe that the restoration of freight rates is something that had to happen for the health of the carriers and therefore the strength and reliability of the services that we are happy to offer to our own clients. The good years of very low freight rates for importers were never maintainable in the long run as container freight was being offered sometimes at below 20% of cost. The industry should be stronger moving forward and this can only benefit our clients in the long run. Looking for costs for your next shipment? Need a price for a full or part load container? Door to door price for your shipment? Contact us on sales@mannson.com