Do you get things for your business from China?
When importing or exporting goods over long distances, the method of transport must meet the needs of the consignee in terms of time, price, and the specifics of the goods.
When going long distances, it’s best to travel by sea, air, or train. In this article, we’ll look at Air Freight Services from China in particular.
Air transport from China is often the most convenient way to bring in goods with small volumes and low densities, like electronics, wristwatches, and jewelry. Let’s look at how to figure out shipping rates and what to take into account.
Why choose Air Freight Services from China?
When it comes to importing and exporting, air transport is the most popular and well-liked shipping method used by both large and small businesses.
When it comes to importing from China, the air mode is not only a simple, fast, and safe way to do things, but it is also less expensive than the sea route. When you choose to fly from China, you get the following benefits:
a remarkable ease of organization. In fact, the submission process is very easy to use, making it very accessible. Just give your Chinese supplier the address where the goods should be sent;
Tracking a shipment Not always, but you can use the tracking code for some types of shipments to find out where the goods are. It is a service that all of the major shipping companies offer to their customers these days;
Air freight Services from China
The rate of travel. In reality, the goods get to their destination and are sent to the customer within 7–10 working days from the time the order is placed.
The length of the transfer depends on how fast and how often the connections between the two reference regions are made. Also, it’s important to think about how easy it is to get to the place of delivery.
So, the fastest way to ship freight from China is by air because shipping by sea takes a lot longer. Most of the time, it takes at least 40 days for the ship to arrive at its final port, and you should also keep in mind that it takes another 3–5 days for unloading and delivery to the customer’s address. Because of this, choosing air transport lets European and American companies put products bought in China on the market about a month earlier than if they used other shipping methods.
When is the price convenient?
When sending valuable or small items that don’t weigh or take up much space, shipping by air from China is a good choice.
In fact, it was found that air shipments only make up 5% of the amount of goods imported from China, but when the value of the goods is taken into account, this number rises to 30%.
When it comes to furniture, furnishings, and fabrics, we must remember that air transport is often more expensive than shipping by sea. Most of the time, it’s not a good idea to choose air transport from China for large and heavy items because the cost depends on the size and weight of the cargo.
In fact, tariffs for shipping by sea are just based on how much the goods weigh. On the other hand, when talking about air mode, you can talk about the goods’ volume or weight.
This factor is different for different types of items. So, it’s a good idea to check with the shipping company to find out which method of transport will work best in each case.
How to calculate the price of Air FreightTransport Services from China?
There are two ways to figure out how much it will cost to fly something from China, depending on what it is. In fact, you can talk about the “volumetric” or “dimensional” weight or the “simple” weight, which is measured in kilograms.
The first method is used to ship things like teddy bears that don’t take up much space but have a large volume. When it comes to products that are very heavy, tariffs are based on weight.
The decision to change how prices are calculated based on the features of the product is a very good one for the airlines that offer this service.
In fact, it is bad business for these companies to make customers pay by weight for shipments of goods that aren’t very dense compared to the space they take up and vice versa. Using a real-life example, the following will be used to figure out the costs:
The weight for importing high-density goods.First, the dimensions of the load are given in cubic meters. Then, the volumetric weight is found by multiplying the goods’ volume by the relative volumetric factor. If the load’s weight is more than its volumetric weight, a weight-based fee is charged. This fee is usually 4.6 euros per kilo. Because of this, the cost of shipping is equal to the weight of the cargo times the fare. For example, if the weight is 171 kilograms, the shipping costs are 786.6 euros;
The size of the volumetric weight for importing goods of limited density.Again, the load’s size is measured in cubic meters, and its volume is multiplied by the volumetric factor. If the volumetric weight is higher than the load weight, the customer will have to pay for the first value. So, the volumetric weight should be multiplied by the tariff that is applied to the weight.
What to keep in mind
But keep in mind that the value of the volumetric factor changes depending on which shipping company is used and how dense the goods are. Most of the time, three different volumetric factors are used:
143 Kg/m3 for goods with a density of less than 0.007 m3/Kg; 167 Kg/m3 for goods with a density of less than 0.006 m3/Kg; 200 Kg/m3 for goods with a density of no more than 0.005 m3/Kg.
So, it makes economic sense to use Air Freight services from China when you want to import high-density, low-volume, or high-value goods. So, electronics, plastic products, wristwatches, and jewelry are the goods that should be sent by air freight. Also, this method is recommended for sending out samples.
Second, people should use air travel if the load doesn’t weigh more than a certain amount. Most of the time, this option is best when the goods weigh less than 50 kilograms and don’t take up more than 2 cubic meters of space. Also, you have to think about when the shipment will go out. If goods need to be there within a few business days, it is more convenient to pay more for air transport so that the goods can be there quickly.
The Air Shipment Process
The first step in air shipping from China is getting the goods to the airport of reference in China.
If Incoterm EXW is used to set up the flight, the importer is responsible for getting the goods from the factory or warehouse (called the “production line”) to the airport where the flight will leave. So, the company doing the importing has to get in touch with the road or rail transport company.
But the same air carrier handles the export customs paperwork. However, the importer may have to bring a copy of the commercial invoice to the customs office. It is a document that shows how much the goods are worth. At this point, the products are put on the plane and flown to the destination airport, where they are unloaded and taken to customs to be accepted.
The importing company also has to pay any airport fees, customs duties, and VAT. Remember that you have to pay the bill, which includes these last two costs, before you can pick up the imported goods at the destination airport and take them to your company’s warehouse. If you want to use an Incoterm DAT or DAP instead, you shouldn’t do these things. In this case, the bill from the transportation company includes costs from the airport.
Why insure the goods to be shipped?
It is a good idea to insure the goods that need to be shipped so that the operation is more likely to go well.
Most of the time, these costs add up to no more than 1-2% of the price of the goods. Most of the time, we use the company PingAn because the insurance costs are only 0.02% of the value of the franc on board, which is 110%.
This is a very important step because many suppliers use cheap packaging, and most of the time, the companies that buy the goods don’t specify any quality standards when they place the order.
If you don’t have insurance and the goods get damaged while being shipped, you can’t get your money back. In general, sending in a claim for compensation is easy, and very often, all that is needed to get compensation from the insurance company is a protocol stating the value and quantity of the damaged goods and photos proving the damage.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are certain rules that must be followed when sending goods from China by air. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has rules about how lithium batteries that are used in electronics and power banks can be used.
So, IATA rules say that items must be labeled and packaged in a certain way.
Because of this, if you want to import a shipment of this kind of item, you should talk to a shipping company that has experience in this area.
How to simplify life?
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We offer a full range of services for bringing goods from China into the country.
Searching for a product, getting in touch with the factory, getting quality control certificates, organizing shipments, and clearing customs.