Shipping To China

Far East Shipping (UK) Ltd are export experts when it comes to shipping goods by sea freight to China. Whether you are shipping part container or full container loads, we will offer you a comprehensive shipping service to China, offering a competitive price, a prompt and reliable service.

Our team has over 20 years experience in the shipping industry and has moved thousands of containers between the UK and China. From 20ft containers, to flat rack containers – we are your one stop solution when shipping goods to China.

What Services Are Available When Shipping Goods To China?

When it comes to sending goods by sea freight to China, you will have two options to you. An LCL service, which stands for Less than a Container Load, or an FCL service, which stands for a Full Container Load. Depending on the size of the goods you are exporting to China, will determine whether your shipment is LCL or FCL. If you are unsure, please do not hesitate to contact our team and we will be happy to talk you through the process and help you with this.

LCL Sea Freight To China (Less than Container Load)

Goods which are small in quantity, size of weight would generally be best suited to an LCL shipping service. This is where your goods are loaded within a “shared” or “consolidated” shipping container. Your goods will be carefully loaded along with other customer’s goods, who are shipping to the same Chinese port that week. The massive benefit of this being that you are not having to pay for the whole container, simply being charged for the volume which is occupied. Pricing will be determined by the size of goods you are exporting, typically charged in cubic metres and to calculate the total volume of your goods, you would simply use the following formula.

When calculating the volume in cubic metres (M3) of an LCL sea freight container, you simply take the Length x Width x Height in Metres and multiply this by the number of packages you are sending.

For example if you had 2 pallets with dimensions of 1.20 metres x 1.00 metre x 1.70 metres, you would simply take the three dimensions multiplied together, then multiply by “2” for the number of items you are sending, giving a total of 4.08 cubic metres. (M3)

Without doubt there are massive cost savings gained when choosing LCL sea freight shipping to China, as you’re paying for only the space you are using. The overall shipping time can be increased, when compared to shipping a full container load. This is because at origin and destination, the LCL container will need to be “stuffed” (loaded) and “de-stuffed” or “devanned” (unloaded) at consolidation warehouses. Whereas when shipping a full container load, you are paying for the sole use of that container and therefore it cuts out the loading and unloading formalities at the consolidation warehouse.

Full Container Load Shipping To China (FCL)

If you are sending larger, heavier or bulkier items to China by ocean freight, then a dedicated full container service will be more beneficial to you. The way that pricing works with FCL shipping, is that you need to maximise the overall volume of the container, but, the price you are paying won’t change. So whether you fill the container from front to back, floor to ceiling – or only have it 50% full – the overall shipping charge will remain unchanged.

Therefore it is in your interest to try and maximise as much space within the shipping container as possible. We understand some customer’s ship awkward sized goods, therefore it is not always possible to fill every bit of the container. But when comparing large and heavy items being shipping LCL or FCL, the costs would usually favour the FCL shipping option.

Another useful option of full container load shipping, is if you’re sending fragile goods. If the items you are exporting are susceptible to damage, choosing an FCL service is best, as you do not have the worry of other customer’s goods being loaded within the same container, which is what will happen with a shared or consolidated container shipment.

Did you know that a standard 20FT shipping container, is capable of loading up to approximately 29.00 cubic metres!

How Much Is Container Shipping To China?

When it comes to calculating the costs of container shipping to China, it is not a straight forward “one price for all”. Many factors play a part into the pricing of container shipping. This does not only apply to shipping containers over to China, but when shipping to any international destination.