Mercator handles a variety of commodities for export shipping to South Africa from the UK. The main commodities we see the trade of are UK manufactured engineering equipment (including machinery and parts) and hazardous chemicals.
Our in house export team will ensure that your shipping to South Africa is handled efficiently, professionally and smoothly. Your shipping to South Africa task will be assigned to one of the team, who will handle the whole process with you from beginning to end – we find that this allows for a better personal service, and having just one person overseeing the process nothing gets missed or overlooked. We can advise on documentation requirements, timescales, restrictions on certain goods, and any charges payable once your shipment has arrived in South Africa.
Shipments can be arranged to South Africa via sea or air freight. Sea freight to South Africa takes between 23 and 28 days. Our sea freight shipping services to South Africa cover full container loads and palletised shipments. We’ll arrange for less than container loads to be loaded into a shared container (also known as ‘groupage’). Groupage shipments are a cost effective way of shipping smaller shipments to South Africa as the cost of the container is shared between the cargo owners based on the volume of the consignment. There are regular departures from London Gateway and Tilbury in the UK.
Air freight is more expensive than sea freight, however, it allows for your urgent shipment to South Africa to arrive within a matter of hours (but factor in time either side of the flight for loading, unloading and customs). Air freight to South Africa is particularly good option if your shipment is small, light, delicate or a combination. Air freight is calculated by volume and weight, so the smaller or the lighter, lower cost it will be. There are daily departures from the UK to South Africa, including Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
Once your shipment has cleared through export customs in the UK, has made its journey and has arrived in South Africa we can instruct our agent out there to complete the customs clearance process on your behalf and even arrange the onward delivery of your shipment. Our agent in South Africa is a member of MPL (a global network of freight agents) we have worked together for almost 15 years and so can safely say they are reliable and very good at what they do. We find that offering such a consistent service even once your shipment has arrived in South Africa gives our customers peace of mind.
We have over 20 years’ of experience of export shipping from the UK, and the trade with South Africa has really picked up within the past 15 years. Our export team know how to handle export shipments to South Africa, and our tried and tested supply chain of the transportation process is down to a fine art. So you can be confident in our shipping services to South Africa, knowing at what stage your shipment is, and know what you will need to pay and when.
If you require some assistance with shipping to South Africa then do get in touch to discuss costs, sailing schedules and ask any questions about our shipping services please give our export team a call: +44 2392 756 575 or email sales@mercatorcargo.co.uk
10, St George’s Business Centre,
St Georges Square,
Portsmouth, PO1 3EZ, UK
Mercator is a family-run, UK based independent freight forwarder, offering highly effective sea, road and air freight services around the world.
