How to read a freight quote from China

Two forwarders quote the same shipment. One says a number that makes you smile, the other says a number that makes you wince. Then the goods arrive and the cheap one has quietly become the expensive one, with charges you never saw coming appearing at the port. The trick is not finding the lowest headline number. It is learning to read the whole quote so the number you agree is the number you pay.

Why the headline rate lies

A freight quote often leads with the part that looks cheapest, the ocean or air freight itself, and tucks the rest into a list of abbreviations underneath. Many of those extra charges are real and unavoidable. The problem is when they are left off the quote entirely and reappear as a destination invoice you cannot argue with because the goods are already at the port.

So read every quote as a total, origin charges plus freight plus destination charges, never just the freight line.

The common line items, in plain words

You will see some mix of these:

• Freight. The core ocean or air charge. For sea LCL it is per cubic metre; for FCL it is per container; for air it is per chargeable kilogram.
• Origin local charges. Handling at the China end. For LCL this includes the warehouse work of loading your goods into a shared container.
• THC, terminal handling charge. What the port terminal charges to move your box through the yard, lifting, stacking and positioning. It applies at both ends and is a pass-through, not a forwarder margin.
• Documentation or bill of lading fee. The admin charge for issuing shipping documents.
• Destination charges. Handling, deconsolidation and document fees at the Nigerian port. This is where surprises hide.
• Fuel and currency surcharges. Adjustments tied to fuel prices and exchange movements, often shown as separate codes.
• CFS or container freight station charges. For LCL, the cost of the shared warehouse where your goods are loaded into a container at origin and unpacked at destination. It applies at both ends.
• Storage and demurrage. Charges that start if your goods sit at the port longer than the free window, usually because clearing was slow. These are not on the quote, but they are very real if you are late.

You do not need to memorise the abbreviations. You need to make the forwarder name and explain every one before you commit. A quote that is mostly three-letter codes with no plain-language explanation is a quote the forwarder is hoping you will not question.

The charges that hide at the Nigerian end

Origin charges are usually visible because they are quoted in China where the deal is being won. Destination charges are where the unpleasant surprises gather, because the goods are already on the water by the time they appear.

Watch especially for:

• Destination THC and handling, billed by the Nigerian terminal.
• Deconsolidation fees if you shipped LCL and your goods must be separated from the shared container.
• Document and arrival agent fees at the destination.
• Storage and demurrage if clearing runs slow.

None of these are unusual, and an honest forwarder will tell you about them up front. The danger is the quote that stays silent on the destination side so the China number looks unbeatable, then lands you with an invoice you can only pay because your goods are held hostage at the port.

A quote with a tiny freight line and a vague "destination charges apply" footnote is not a cheap quote. It is an unfinished one.

What is missing matters most

A quote can be technically accurate and still incomplete. Before you accept, confirm in writing whether it includes:

• Origin handling and export documents on the China side.
• THC at both the loading and the discharge port.
• Destination handling and deconsolidation at the Nigerian port.
• Whether Nigerian customs duty is included or, more usually, entirely separate.

Duty is almost always your own affair, calculated on value, not freight. Estimate it early using HS codes and Nigerian customs duty so the freight quote is not the only number in your head.

The questions that finish the quote

Ask these every time:

1. Is this all-in to my port, or are there destination charges on top?
2. What exactly is included at the China end: handling, export docs, customs formalities?
3. Are THC and document fees inside this number or separate?
4. What could change it: surcharges, weight reweighs, storage if I am late?
5. What is not included that I will be billed for later?

A good forwarder answers without flinching. One who gets cagey is telling you where the surprises live. The same instincts apply when first picking a partner, covered in choosing a freight forwarder from China.

Compare like for like

Once you have full quotes, line them up on the same basis. Convert everything to a total landed at your port for the same volume. The forwarder who looked dearest up front is often cheapest once the destination charges are on the table. The cheapest freight line with the thinnest detail is usually the one that ends up costing the most.

The quote does not pay the supplier

Reading a freight quote tells you what moving the goods costs. It is separate from paying for the goods themselves, which happens in RMB to your supplier.

So get every charge on the page, compare totals not headlines, and when the goods are ready, make a request to settle your supplier on Alipay from Naira at a rate you can confirm on the rates page. Two clean numbers, the goods and the freight, beat one smiling headline and a nasty surprise at the port.