How to plan a China to India shipment in a buyer's market

Conditions are unusually favourable to buyers at the moment: a capacity surplus on the main trades, fleet growth ahead of demand, and rates that have come down accordingly. That is worth using properly, and using it properly means asking for more than a lower number.

Before you place the order

1. Confirm the HS code. It decides your duty rate, and increasingly it decides whether you need an inspection or an authorisation at all. This is now a pre-order question, not a pre-shipment one.
2. Check for category-specific requirements. Steel and aluminium now need pre-shipment inspection; IT hardware needs import authorisation.
3. Agree the Incoterm explicitly and write it into the order, so responsibility for each cost is settled before anyone is arguing about an invoice.
4. Think about order size. Policy can change with immediate effect, so very large first orders in sensitive categories carry more risk than they used to.

When you book

This is where a soft market pays, if you ask for the right things:

• Free days at destination. Often worth more than the last few dollars off the ocean rate, particularly if your clearance is not consistently fast.
• Destination charges in writing. Especially on LCL, where a lot of the cost is per shipment rather than per cubic metre — we cover this in LCL or FCL.
• Detention terms stated separately from demurrage. Two clocks, frequently quoted as one.
• Rate validity. In a falling market a long validity protects you; if the market turns, it protects you more.

While the goods are in production

The single highest-return habit in importing is asking for draft documents before the cargo ships.

Get the draft commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading while the goods are still at the factory, and check them against each other — description, weight, value, consignee. Every mismatch you fix at this stage is a query you do not have at the port, and queries cost days at a time when port charges are rising.

Before arrival

1. Send the complete document set to your broker ahead of the vessel, so the entry is prepared rather than started on arrival.
2. Confirm duty funds are arranged. A cleared consignment waiting on payment still accrues charges.
3. Check the routing and ask what happens if it changes — schedules remain less reliable than usual.
4. Plan the onward leg from the port or ICD, rather than treating it as something that begins once clearance finishes.

The thing that has not changed

A cheap rate on a shipment that sits for a week is not a cheap shipment. Most of what goes wrong in importing is not priced in the freight quote at all — it is in the paperwork, the classification and the handoffs. That is the part worth being fussy about, in any market.

Questions we are getting

Is now a good time to negotiate freight rates?

Conditions favour buyers. There is a capacity surplus on the main east-west trades and fleet growth is running ahead of demand. Beyond the rate itself, free days, destination charges and rate validity are all more negotiable than usual.

What should I check before placing an order with a Chinese supplier?

Confirm the HS code, since it decides both your duty rate and whether the goods need an inspection certificate or import authorisation. Agree the Incoterm in writing, and think carefully about order size in categories where policy has been active.

How far in advance should documents reach my customs broker?

Before the vessel arrives, so the bill of entry can be prepared rather than started on arrival. Ask your supplier for draft documents while the goods are still at the factory so inconsistencies are caught early.