Freight forwarder Mercator was recently asked to handle a FOB import from China into the UK of soft toys.
FOB Import from China to UK
Our customer in the UK purchased the goods on a FOB incoterm which means their supplier in China was responsible for and bore the risk of transporting the goods to the port in China, completing the export customs in China and loading the goods onto the vessel ready for shipping from China to the UK. Our UK based customer then took the responsibility and risk for the ocean freight for import from China to the UK and the full transportation journey onwards to door.
![](https://www.mercatorcargo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/import-from-China-jpg.webp)
Sea Freight from Nanjing to Felixstowe
The loaded shipping container was loaded on a feeder vessel at the port in Nanjing which then transited at Shanghai to complete the journey via sea freight to the UK. Transit time for this particular journey was 46 days port to port – Nanjing to Felixstowe.
Freight Forwarding Connections in China
Thanks to our founding membership of the global freight forwarder network MarcoPoloLine, we have a reliable and trusted partner agent in China. We liaised with our freight forwarding partner in China who assisted with contacting the supplier in China, the bill of lading instructions and arranging the sea freight from China to the UK. Once the shipment from China arrived in the UK, Mercator settled the ocean freight plus the shipping line’s UK landside charges. Our import team handled the customs clearance at Felixstowe using specialist freight forwarding software linking directly to the Port of Felixstowe. Mercator has badges at the major ports in the UK (and some smaller ports too), this means that we can complete our own customs clearances directly with HMRC and the ports to reduce delays and streamline our import services.
UK Customs Clearance and Delivery
Once the shipment had cleared UK customs, we arranged for our local Felixstowe haulier to pick up the shipping container and deliver it to the customer’s base in the UK.
Mercator regularly handles full container load imports from China, if you have a full container load or less than container load for shipping from China to the UK, get in touch with our import team who will be happy to provide you with a quote. We can handle freight shipments from China on any term, including EXW (door to door). Call our freight forwarding team on (+44) 02392 756 575, or email sales@mercatorcargo.co.uk, alternatively you can complete the form below and we will be in touch shortly with a shipping quote from China to the UK.