Sea freight from China — FCL and LCL
The cheapest way to move larger consignments — your own container, or a share of one.
Sea freight carries the overwhelming majority of volume coming from China into Poland, and for most goods it remains the default. The first decision comes down to one question: FCL or LCL. FCL — Full Container Load — means you hire the whole box and pay for it whether you fill it or not. LCL — Less than Container Load — means you pay for the space or weight you actually occupy, and your pallets share the container with other companies' cargo.
The break-even sits around 13–15 CBM. Below it, groupage is usually cheaper. Above it, a full container often wins, because the LCL rate scales linearly with volume while the container price does not. A 40-foot high cube holds roughly 68 CBM of usable space once palletisation eats its share, so the moment your volume approaches half a container it is worth pricing both.
The second thing worth knowing early: the freight rate is rarely the whole cost. Terminal handling at both ends, bunker and currency surcharges, documentation, customs clearance and the inland leg to your warehouse all sit on top. An offer quoting port-to-port and an offer quoting door-to-door are not comparable numbers, and the gap between them is where most unpleasant surprises live.
Who it is for
- Importers moving 2 CBM or more per shipment
- Goods with a low value-to-weight ratio — furniture, packaging, building materials
- Regular, planned replenishment where six weeks in transit is acceptable
- Anyone who has outgrown courier shipments and is paying per kilo for volume
What it covers
- Ocean freight on the chosen route, FCL or LCL
- Terminal handling at origin and destination, itemised rather than bundled
- Bills of lading and the export documentation set
- Optional: pickup from the supplier, customs clearance in Poland, delivery to your address
- Optional: cargo insurance covering the declared value of the goods
What to watch for
- Free days at the destination port. Demurrage and detention start quietly and add up fast — ask how many days you get before the clock starts.
- Whether the quote covers the destination terminal handling charge. Left out, it reappears later as a separate invoice.
- Peak season surcharges before Chinese New Year and in the pre-Christmas window, when rates can move by tens of percent within weeks.
- For LCL: how the chargeable unit is calculated. Volume or weight, whichever is greater, is standard — but the weight-to-volume ratio used varies between forwarders.
Common questions
Check whether you are overpaying
The form takes a few minutes and costs nothing. Even if you stay with your current forwarder, you will know what the market is worth.
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