Sea freight - time and cost

[paulears]

i normally get my Chinese stock via air freight arranged at reasonable cost by the suppliers but I want to get some specific PA kit for my hire stock. The individual items cost around 500-700 pounds per box and I need maybe ten? Trouble is they come in flight cases in pairs, each pair running in at around 70kg. Air freight costs are enormous. It makes buying from europe actually cheaper. Time is deadline specific but how long is the usual sea route?

 

[MOIC]

Sea route, door to door is approximately 40 - 45 days.

7 Days - Booking/Clearance/Loading.

28 Days - Sea Transit.

7 Days - Clearance/Tipping/Delivery.

If the goods are deadline specific, then air cargo may be a cheaper option, rather than a door to door courier.

 

[paulears]

Great - thanks for that, might just be workable I think. Appreciate the advice.

 

[CHUKTC]

Another option which you may wish to consider is Rail Freight. Currently taking 22 days + deliver to and from rail terminals so quicker than by sea but cheaper that air shipping. We have used it quite a bit and customers seem to like it.

 

[paulears]

Rail? I've never heard of this - I will investigate.

 

[CHUKTC]

Rail freight options have been running for a couple of years now and you can ship Wuhan to Dartford.

 

[MOIC]

Rail - You will need to add approximately 10 days to the train journey time to get your goods delivered/cleared and to load the train at the departure station in China, then another 10 days for the train to be unloaded, customs cleared and delivered, once it's arrived at the destination station in either Poland or Germany.

In total allow 45 days (at least) from door to door.

The trains currently stop and get unloaded in Poland or Germany (mostly), then by road to UK.

Not all goods can be sent by train.

 

[CHUKTC]

I have to say that has not been our experience and recently times have got much quicker.

 

[MOIC]

We send goods by train on a daily basis. Goods leaving the South East of China, for example Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shantou, Fujian, Xiamen take time to get to the destination port.

Even if you have goods leaving from Ningbo and Shanghai areas, there is still a waiting list for goods to get on the train due to supply and demand.

The average journey time, door to door, will be 45 days, irrespective of what a China agent (or a UK agent who handles train freight) will tell you.

Most train freight agents will tell you what you want to hear regarding door to door journey times, which will differ from reality.