Brief introduction between China and Brazil

China is Brazil's second largest source of imports and second largest export market. About Brazil, it mainly imports petroleum, chemical raw materials, optical instruments, wheat, and exports steel, transportation equipment, iron ore, pulp, leather shoes, coffee, sugar, soybeans, orange juice, etc.

Let’s move on the shipping from China to Brazil.

Major Ports in Brazil (They are eleven in total):

  • SANTOS
  • PARANAGUA
  • RIO DE JANEIRO
  • ITAJAI
  • SALVADOR
  • VITORIA
  • SUAPE
  • PECEM
  • RIO GRANDE
  • SAO FRANCISCO DO SUL
  • NAVEGANTES

Transit time from China to Brazil by sea freight:

There are mainly two terms of transportation, including sea freight and air freight. Let’ start with sea freight first, one is liner, another is charter. The last routine depends on your destination or your requirements, while the former routine is fixed. In liner, whether FCL or LCL, port to port or door to port, we can meet your needs.

Shipping from China ports to Brazil's ports can take APL, CMA, CNC, COSCO, EMC and other shipping companies, the voyage is about 35-45 days.We also need to consider some extra days before we shipped the goods to shipping port in China. Generally speaking, the most economical terms of transportation is by sea.

What cost will be paid for sea freight from China to Brazil?

When shipping from China to Brazil by sea freight, there will be various fees need to consider.

We make a list for these fees to help you understand each step of the logistic process and your sea freight quotations.

Here are some of the main costs that come with your shipment:

  • Delivery or picking up to POL (port of loading) at origin(based on EXW term)
  • Customs clearance (export)(based on EXW term)
  • Freight rate
  • Insurance
  • Import customs clearance
  • Customs duties (if any)
  • Delivery to the agreed final location

As mentioned earlier, Freight Solution is truly committed to provide tailored-made solutions. As the final cost of your shipment depends on the type of service that you require, we’ll make sure to adapt our offer accordingly.

How to choose the sea freight method between the FCL & LCL?

FCL = Full Container Load

LCL = Less than Container Load or Consolidation

Choosing FCL when your cargo quantity is large enough to fill one or more containers. In this case, the freight is calculated on the basis of the whole container.

But if small cargo like the volume less than a full container loading,

  • If 1cbm~8cbm, choose LCL.
  • If 8cbm~15cbm, do some research to see what’s the most effective solution.
  • If over 15cbm, choose FCL without any hesitation.
  • Normally, there are three most common container types list below for your evaluation. Most businesses importing from China are only concerned with these three standard sizes that make up most of the container volume shipped worldwide.


    Full container load 20”GP   40”GP 40”HQ
    CBM contained 28CBM 58CBM 68CBM

    Generally, FCL shipment will be loaded and sealed at origin by your supplier or the manufacturer, then shipped by a combination of ocean, road or/and rail to your final destination. And then the bill of lading of FCL shipment will be issued directly by the official shipping line.

    What’s more, FCL can be tracked directly from the shipping company. You can track the location and estimated arrival date of your container shipment from China, through the shipping carriers’ websites.

    In order to track your goods, you need to know the name of shipping line which is transporting your cargo, and the container number, booking number or document number (one of them is enough).

    The more important point is that buy FCL means your shipment will be safer than by LCL. In the LCL arrangement, the shipper is required to deliver the cargo to the forwarder’s warehouse for containerization. The forwarder will use the same container to pack in more cargo from other shippers to make a complete container load at the warehouse. This action is also called freight consolidation.

    Maybe sometimes, you just want to buy small order which not a large enough volume to make a FCL shipment, so LCL will be the best choice for you, that means your shipment will be combined with other shipping consignments headed for the same destination. Unlike FCL, LCL will be charged by volume (cubic meters or weight (1cbm=363kgs), at the same time it almost always cheaper than air freight.

    When buy LCL, the bill of lading will be issued by freight forwarder instead of shipping line, please pay more attention to shipping mark which is mandatory for LCL shipment as symbol are printed on the outer package to identify your cargoes from others consignments.

     

    There will be some advantages to buy LCL shipment:

    The delivery time will be shorter than FCL shipment and you not need to wait the enough quantity to fill in one container.

    Sometime, a small trial order can reduce your sourcing risk, also which can prove if the product is qualified and the supplier is experienced.

    By LCL, you only need to pay for the space your cargo used, which will be most cost-effective than FCL at a certain extent.

    So if your cargo is more than 15 cubic meters, you’d better to ship by FCL, or small than 10 cubic meters, stick to LCL shipment.

     

    Let’s move on Air Freight from China to Brazil

    Major Air Ports in Brazil (They are four in total):

    • BRASILIA (BSB) 
    • SAOPAULO(SAO)  
    • RIP DE JANEURO(RIO) 
    • SANTIAGO(SCL) 

    Transit time from China to Brazil by Air Freight:

    China is on this side of the earth's sphere, Brazil is on the other side of the earth's sphere (geographically called the metatarsal point). In other words, China and Brazil are too far away, there are no direct flights, and most of the air transportation from China to Brazil is transit through the United States. Such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Miami and so on. The prescription is not very good, fast time is three or four days to arrive, if slow take more than a week, and often there are times of transit. In addition, you can also take DHL, UPS, FEDEX and other international express channels to ship your small shipments and time sensitive order, normally it just take around 3-5 days for fast service and 5-7 days for slow service. Of course it just a general time, the specific transit time will be depends on the carriers you chosen and also do account for the delays for some busy seasons or festival days.

    Main Airlines

    Because it's too far away, so the price is not cheap, about 30 yuan per kilogram. The main airlines available are American and Canadian airlines such as DL AA CO AC, some Japanese airlines and some South American airlines such as Chile Airlines.

    How to Calculate the Air Freight Rate?

    When it comes airfreight and express freight, you should be pay more attention to the chargeable weight for your cargoes, because there will be come out real/gross weight and dimensional/volumetric weight for them.

    Real weight or volumetric weight

    Real weight is the actual gross weight of your products, this is very simple. Dimensional weight is calculated by multiplying the volume (L*W*H cm) by 167. for standard air freight, and (L*W*H cm) by 200 for air courier.

    Dimensional Weight = Length (cm) x Width (cm) x Height (cm)/5000.

    Dimensional Weight = Length (cm) x Width (cm) x Height (cm)/6000.

    The final chargeable weight will be calculated by the heavier one between the gross weight and dimensional weight after measured by carrier.

    The minimum chargeable weight is 45 kgs for standard air freight and the rate class is +45kg, +100kg, +300kg, +500kg, +1000kg etc. While for air courier, if the weight is less than 21 kg, then the minimum chargeable unit is 0.5 kg; If more than 21 kg, then 1 kg.

    Air cargo tracking

    Each AWB has its unique number. You can find this number on the head section. By submitting the number on the tracking page of the airline’s official website, all updated tracking information will be available. The bill format is 2 airline code + 3 numbers as prefix + several numbers. For example, Hainan Airlines, HU as the airline code, 880 as prefix. Some carriers will provide a free service called email alert. When the goods moved, the updated status will be sent to you shortly.

    Some Notes of Exported Goods to Brazil:

    The export of goods to Brazil is very strict. From invoice to bill of lading, each item is checked very carefully and must be keep same to each other, there can be no errors, or it will cause great losses.

    What’s more, if the goods worth more than $5000 can’t be delivered by express, only by air or sea, not by express.

    Brazil customs does not accept handwritten documents. It is difficult to accept a change in the consignee at Brazilian customs unless the original consignee on the bill of lading agrees to change to a new consignee and this authorization is difficult to obtain. Many suppliers encounter bad buyers according to which Chinese foreign trade companies are required to blackmail Chinese foreign trade companies halfway (under TT payments) because they know that it is difficult for Brazilian consignee to agree to return their shipments.

    If you have any question, please contact us immediately. We are the freight forwarder you can trust in China. We ship anything to anywhere safe and save. Help your business succeed is our business.

    What are documents need and special requirements for them?

    Commercial Invoice & Packing List

    Original Commercial Invoices

    • INCOTERMS must be stated on the commercial invoice. DAP is allowed, but discouraged.
    • DDP is strictly prohibited in Brazil due to tax reasons.
    • A list of INCOTERMS and their definitions can be found on our website athttp://myfreightsolution.com/resource/Incomterms/index.html.

    Original Packing Lists

    Requirements for these Documents

    • 3 colored copies of each
    • Signed in blue ink
    • Docs must show
    • Freight
    • Insurance
    • Other charges (when applicable) as separate line items

    Bill of Lading Requirements

    NCM Number

    • Brazil requires that the NCM number (Nomenclatura Comum do MERCOSUL) be stated on the bill of lading.
    • This number is a local classification system in Brazil, and is consistent with the Harmonized Tariff System classifications.
    • It is only mandatory that the first 4 digits of the NCM number be listed.

    Required Documentation

    Freight Solution is proficient at assisting in the completion of various other documentation such as certificates of origin and insurance certificates. As long as we know the particular requirements of the customer, we can customize our documentation packet and process to meet those needs.

    • Original Master Bill of Lading (MBL – may be issued at destination)
    • Original House Bill of Lading (HBL)
    • Commercial Invoice signed in Blue Ink
    • Packing List signed in Blue Ink
    • Other documentation may be requested

    Original Bills of Lading

    • Original, rated bills of lading are required for Brazil.
    • “As Agreed” or “Prepaid” will not be accepted
    • The rate must be shown.

    As such, Freight Solution always utilizes our trusted partner in Brazil in order to protect your interests and keep your costs confidential, passing along only the necessary documentation required for clearance to the actual consignee.