Shipping from China to South Africa

Shipping Time when Ship from China to South Africa by Sea

Port of Loading	Port of Arrive	Transmit Time
Shanghai	Capetown/Durban	27/22
Shenzhen	Capetown/Durban	22/17
Ningbo	Capetown/Durban	24/21
Qingdao	Capetown/Durban	26/24
Tianjin	Capetown/Durban	38/26
Xiamen	Capetown/Durban	27/21

Shipping from China to South Africa: The Complete Guide

This guide will teach you everything you need to know about shipping from China to South Africa.

I give you the information about the transit time, cost of shipping, and tracking of your product when shipping from China to South Africa.

How long Does it take to ship from China to South Africa

Quality of shipping service from China to South Africa depends on the transit time of shipment.

And delivered products are safe and protected from any damage.

Go through this table to get a rough idea of days spent in shipping journey by air and sea freight.

ETD	ETA	By Air (days)	By Sea(Days)
Shanghai	Durban	3	25
Tianjin	Port Elizabeth	4	26
Tonghua	Cape town	3	25
Suzhou, Jiangsu	Cape Town	5	23
Shenzhen	Witbank	3	20
Zibo	Durban	4	21
Shanghai	Cape town	3	26
Shiyan	Rustenburg	3	23

-Transit time to ship from China to South Africa by Sea Freight

Port of Shanghai, China to Port of Durban, South Africa:

 

Shanghai China is the place of industries from where you can ship your desired products globally.

Shipping from China

Your cargo takes approximately 23 days at sea to from China Shanghai port to Durban port South Africa.

Estimated distance is 8418 nautical miles.

Jinan Port (Chinan /Tsinan) to Port Elizabeth:

Approximate distance between Jinan port china and port of Elizabeth South Africa is 9645 nm.

26 days required to transfer the products from loading port to destination port.

Port of Qinhuangdao (Chinwangtao) to Port of Cape Town

The distance between Qinhuangdao port and port of Cape Town is approximately 9981 nautical meters.

The rough idea about days at sea is 27 days.

This is really important how much time consumed to ship from China to South Africa by Sea freight.

ROI exactly depends on your transit time.

First, consider what things effect on duration of shipping from China to South Africa.

Factors Affecting Transit Time Shipping from China to South Africa

Shipping duration is not based on one factor.

Let’s drive with the most influential factors on duration of your product shipping.

Size of Cargo

Size of shipment extends or reduce your transit time.

You can transfer your product by air freight is the quickest option but exceeded the limit of weight can’t help with air freight.

Try ocean freight to fulfill your weight requirements and estimate your shipment time

Required Documents

Avoid delays in shipment by having complete documents at every checkpoint.

Global import and export required some legal documentation to fulfill the formal requirements.

Don’t miss any paper, you have to pay heavy charges to clear the issues of documentation.

Urgent shipment

Transfer your products within a couple of hours is only possible by air freight.

Any time you have the urgency to transfer your things airway is the best secure method.

All the things effects but for some time consider everything constant and get the estimated time

Go through this table:

Now it’s your turn.

Don’t lose your temper during shipment process always keep 3 days extra in your mind for loading time and 2 to 3 days extra for customs clearance at the destination port.

Your freight forwarder matters a lot with your efficiency, JMS China provides secure and efficient service.

JMS helps you to deliver your products within your required time frame.

-Transit time to ship from China to South Africa by Air Freight

On time shipping grow your business but delayed deliveries of cargo may lead to the great loss.

Air freight is the transfer of products from the airport to airport.

The freight forwarder is responsible to manage documentation issues, customs clearance.

	Air Freight	Air Express
Weight	100 -3000kgs	0.5-150kgs
Transit Time	2-6 days	2-7 days

Shipping from China to South Africa is a complicated process but nowadays you are well aware of the situation at loading port and destination spot.

By using freight rate calculator you can get the estimated value of the cost of complete shipping process and transit time.

-Transit time to ship from China to South Africa by Express

Selection of fastest delivery service is not a difficult task.

Express shipping provides more efficient ways of delivery and provides the guarantee of shortest transit time.

Urgent delivery of products can be possible by choosing express shipping from China to South Africa.

Maximum time requires to transfer products is about 4 to 5 days

Normally you can’t transfer heavy products by express shipping, only small products allowed to transfer by this method.

Another factor affects the transit time, which carrier service you are using to manage your shipping process.

You are in the start of your trading then keep some points in your mind

• What things are prohibited for shipping
• Which goods are hazardous for freight
• How much weight is allowed to transfer by sea or air freight

How much does it cost to ship products from China to South Africa

Whenever you start any business and you need to import products, one thing must keep in your mind the money value of products.

Cost means not only the value of the product as well as all expense to ship your freight from industry to market destination.

Let’s take a look at how much does it cost to ship a product from China to South Africa

-Ship goods from China to South Africa by Sea

Ocean freight is the safe way to ship your products.

Different factors influence the cost graph.

You need to understand to determine how shipping cost vary products to products.

Nature of products is the main factor like delicate items, hazardous cargo, and minerals treated differently as compared to normal products.

Some additional charges applied to such type of things because special cargo needs to handle differently.

To avoid any inconvenience just discuss with your freight forwarder in detail and get the better estimation about your products.

Factors Effecting Sea freight cost

Without wasting your moments go through with these important aspects let’s read

The capacity of the Container

What product and in how much quantity do you want to ship is the main question.

And the capacity in the container is ok with your freight size.

You can choose 20 ft or 40 ft container according to your consignment.

Large consignment can be shipped by FCL and small items need to consolidate to fill a container by LCL.

Currency Rate

Currency rate is an important factor.

Internationally things sell and purchase in the dollar, little fluctuation in the dollar rate impact the whole process.

So keep currency fluctuation in your mind to calculate the estimated cost of shipping.

Fuel cost

Transportation depends on fuel.

Fluctuation in the price of fuel may change the cost of shipping.

When the rate of fuel is down, shipping cost automatically reduces.

Distance from loading port to destination port

You have to pay according to the distance from loading port to destination.

Longer the distance, higher you pay.

So, decide which port is near o you and decide best suitable loading port in a way you can save enough money.

-Ship goods from China to South Africa by Air

Let me explain to you the cost of shipping from China to South Africa.

As ocean freight service different factors impact the air freight service cost.

Have a look

• Airway Bill
• Insurance Charges applied
• Chargeable weight

Normally charges are different but when you want to ship any fragile & delicate product some additional charges applied for protection.

Check some of the measurement ratios 0.1 kg is the basic unit of chargeable weight.

Let’s consider

If you have the weight less than 21kgs then minimum weight unit applied is 0.5kgs.

And if your weight exceeded to 21kg then charges will 1 kg.

The way to calculate get products of height, the width in inches and divide with 366.

Shipping Container Options

20Ft Shipping Container

Dimensions of the 20FT container are 33 cubic meters, length 5.9 m, width 2.35 m and height 2.39 m

Subjected to charge approximately 1862.67 dollars to ship from China to South Africa.

40 FT Shipping Container

40 ft containers have different types like tube container, double door cube container, the container with steel floor and folding containers.

You can choose container according to your freight nature.

-Ship parcel from China to South Africa

Sending parcel is an ideal option of shipping with cost-effective rates.

You can get the real position of your

You can send up to 1000kgs but it totally depends on the freight forwarder.

-Import duties to ship from China to South Africa

Your shipping cost doesn’t mean the price of products.

You need to pay some extra taxes during the shipping process.

As an importer, you must estimate your budget and arrange the money in advance.

If you understand all the duties you need to pay during shipping process then you never stuck with any problem.

Let me go through how many taxes do you need to pay when shipping from China to South Africa.

South Africa Import Duty and Taxes

Products received from all around the world subjected to Most Favored Nation charges.

All the import duties applied according to the SACU (South Africa Customs Union Arrangement).

SACU including different members like South Africa, Swaziland, and Namibia all the places charged same excise duties and taxes.

Generally, duty rates in South Africa vary from 0% to 45%.

Average duty rates in South Africa is 18.74%.

Some of the products are not subjected to duty taxes.

• Electric Equipment
• Electric guitar
• Laptop
• Computer Accessories

Value Added Tax applied on imports at 14% of the sum of FOB (Free On Board) value.

And approximately 10% uplift charges of FOB value.

How to Calculate VAT?

Value Added Tax is calculated by adding duty taxes on products, customs value of items and 10 percent of customs value.

Insurance and anti-dumping charges applied other than duty taxes.

Sea Freight Shipping from China to South Africa

When shipping from China to South Africa you have a lot of options available to ship your products.

It depends on your package requirement and freight forwarder.

Your shipment some time exceeded to the specified limit then you need to choose the mode of shipping according to your volume and requirement.

Ocean freight service offers you the best solution to transfer heavy load products.

It provides FCL (Full Container Load) or LCL (Less than Container Load) facility.

-FLC shipping from China to South Africa

How much weight do you want to transfer decides your shipping mode?

FCL and LCL directly depend on the size of the container.

JMS China ensures the security of your goods, packages loaded properly in the container and managed to utilize maximum space.

Advantages when you choose FCL shipping

Container load is the convenient option but not always as expensive as we imagine.

The best thing about FCL is the cost-effective option in comparison of small weight.

1. Tracking of FCL is Convenient

Track your container easily and get estimation how many days remaining for the arrival of cargo.

Things you need to know to track your cargo are tracking number, container number and booking detail.

2. Secure Shipment by FCL

No partial packages to ship in a single container.

Your freight is safe and just uncovered at the loading time and unpacking time.

FCL is the convenient option not only for heavy products as well as smaller weights.

3. FCL is speedy Service.

No need to consolidate your products at loading port or on the destination port.

Freight forward load FCL containers without any hassle.

4. FCL is Cost Effective Option

Maximum utilization of space in 20 or 40 feet container.

Price definitely depends on the volume of the container & material of the goods.

-LCL shipping from China to South Africa

You’re transferring small weight and you need not book full load container.

Ultimate shipping option is available, consolidate your cargo with others to fill a shared container.

This isn’t recommended if you are in hurry.

Loading & unloading of products of different customers takes a long time.

Advantages of LCL Shipping

• You are subjected to pay low charges as compare to FCL shipping
• Maximum utilization of space within 20 ft and 40 ft containers
• Secure package delivery
• Low risk of damage to your products

Best thing is freight forwarder help to consolidate different container in FCL to transfer products cost-effectively.

-OOG shipping from China to South Africa

Large and heavy machinery shipped by OOG (out Of Gauge) shipping.

Weight more than 105 tons can be transferred easily even delicate equipment and complicated shapes.

JMS China guarantees safety during the shipping, and help to clear all legal formalities and Import Duties.

OOG shipping is low cost, time-saving freight service

-Roll on Roll off shipping from China to South Africa

Shipping methods by wheels like transfer of products by trucks, buses, and tractor trailers.

Some of the vehicles have the built-in loading ramp.

Types of RO-RO vessels are Pure Car Carrier & Pure Truck and Car Carrier.

Pure Car Carrier (PCC) developed to for the shipment of a large number of passenger’s Lorries.

PCTC (pure Truck & Car Carrier) are designed to ship all wheel based machinery.

Calculation of cost is according to the length and width in meters.

Advantages of Ro-Ro Shipping

• Transfer of vehicles and wheeled cargo at the cheap price.
• Transfer of vehicle accessories like extra tire and tools is free.
• Secure risk-free transfer of vehicles.

-Door to door shipping from China to South Africa

The mode of shipping handled by the freight forwarder.

Your freight forwarder is your shipping agent.

The person responsible to make your shipping process smooth from the loading point to the destination point.

The door to door shipping from China to South Africa is the most convenient option to transfer products.

Door to door shipping isn’t recommended for newbies and fresher.

You don’t need to go anywhere get your freight at your door without any damage.

Have you ever use the door to door service for shipping?

• Save your time, no need to go to any port at loading and unloading time to check your cargo.
• Your products arrived at the destination safely.
• Don’t waste your money for ensuring where your product is now.
• Freight forwarder helps you to update about the status of your cargo.

-Main seaport to ship from China to Africa

Africa evolved with great progress in recent years and famous for sea freight shipping ports.

Have a look on the busiest ports in Africa used to ship products from China.

• Suez Canal Container Terminal, Egypt
• Lagos, Nigeria
• Walvis Bay, Namibia
• Saldanha Bay, South Africa
• Kenya, Mombasa
• Durban, South Africa
• Port of Richards Bay, South Africa

Busiest ports are highlighting below

Durban, South Africa

Busiest spot to transfer cargo by air freight and sea freight, largest terminate l in the southern area.

Largest terminal handle maximum containers, even Durban port have 2 cranes to manage maximum capacity.

In South Africa maximum volume managed by the Durban port.

 Port of Richards Bay, South Africa

Coal shipping platform with container repairing facility.

Support approximately $140 million investment, located about 160km away from Durban port.

-Main sea port of ship to South Africa

Sea freight is the ideal option to transfer heavy cargo with insurance.

• Port of Shanghai, China to Port of Durban, South Africa
• Bailianjing Port, China to Port of Ngqura, South Africa
• Port of Ningbo, China to Port of Cape Town, South Africa
• Port of Zhenjiang (Chinkiang), China to Port of Cape Town, South Africa
• BeijinHarbour, China to Richards Bay, South Africa
• Beijiao Port, China to Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Air Freight shipping from China to South Africa

The secure and fast way of transferring your products.

Air freight service provide with you the best solution to ship your cargo within 4 to 5 days.

Fast delivery of your required products, impact your business position.

Air freight offers you the service from the airport to airport, all the responsibility of custom clearance & documentation is up to the agent or freight forwarder.

Best feature of air freight service is the lowest transit time and better speed.

Air freight bear 100 to 3000Kgs weight & smaller than 1cbm volume.

Something extraordinary in air freight service as compare to ocean freight service.

Check some of the features:

• Short routes, fast delivery and efficient service.
• Quality service in low budget, save your money and time.
• Insurance policy make it secure & protected
• Easy tracking system
• Delivery from the specific airport to airport, hassle free service
• Transfer of hazardous and chemically rich products safely.
• You can transfer Out of Gauge goods by Air freight service

International Airports in China to Ship Your Products

China is the place of industries and Airports located near industrial areas.

You can choose nearest suitable Airport for your product transport.

Check international airport list in China with their standard names

• Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK)
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)
• Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport(SHA)
• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)
• Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH)
• Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)
• Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG)
• Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN)
• Hongkong International Airport (HKG)

Don’t get confused about anything, get information from your freight forwarder

International Airports in South Africa

• Cape Town International Airport
• R. Tambo International Airport
• Durban international airport south Africa
• King Shake International Airport
• Kimberley airport South Africa

All the airports have their own worth but some of the airways provide better shipping experience.

O.R. Tambo International Airport the busiest platform to deal with shipping activities domestically and internationally.

Use to import and export heavy cargo speedily & in very cost effective way.

Central place of national airway carrier South Africa Airlines.

About 20 million people get benefited by the efficient service of the airport.

Cape Town International airport is the 2^nd busiest international gateway to transfer products within the country or globally.

Airport facilitated with direct flights to the national destinations as well as international terminals.

How to Track your goods from China to South Africa

Check the status of your cargo by AWB.

Never forget you’re tracking code or Air Way Bill to check where your freight arrived.

Your freight forwarder help you to track your shipment from the loading port to the destination port by remembering bill of landing.

-Ship by sea

Freight forwarder help you to find your cargo in the ocean.

Customer don’t have to worry about the delay of shipment it’s the responsibility of freight forwarder agent.

You must have some information about your sea freight shipment.

• Name of freight forwarder company
• Name of the container
• Assigned code of the container

You must have proper knowledge about the loading time, loading location and destination time.

To track your product just enter ship number and get all relevant technical data about your shipment.

You can track your ship on the map conveniently.

-ship by air

Get updates of your freight by reliable tracking service.

You can get real time updates of your cargo at every second.

Just remember Air cargo tracking number to track and trace your freight.

Tracking your product status by South African Airways is not a difficult task.

Do remember Air waybill Number and follow your cargo in the height of air.

Now days tracking of cargo is very simple.

Importer don’t need to involve to just put your racking id and get current status and location of your freight.

-ship by express

Express shipping is little bit fast method transferring products in comparison of air freight service.

Approximately 3 to 4 days consumed to reach the destination port.

Express shipping is used for small packages.

China to South Africa shipping responsibility also done by globally known companies like FedEx, UPS and DHL

Trained staff help to complete the shipping process safely, you can even transfer your jewelry and important documents by express shipping.

Famous companies provide the solution of tracking the order and the forwarder agent is responsible to clear all customs duty and documentation regulations.

Every step of shipping process takes place is under the observation of experienced shipping staff so no need to worry about the high value of your package.

How to import goods from China to South Africa

Different choices available that you can opt for shipping from China to South Africa.

This is absolutely depends on the nature of freight you want to ship, in how much budget you need to transfer your products and time duration of shipment.

Let’s read different modes of shipping from China to South Africa.

-Popular goods to ship from China to South Africa

Before deciding to ship your products from China to South Africa, check availability and requirement of the product.

Take care of the prohibited things too.

China is the emerging trading power, you can buy any type of product for shipping.

South African markets are full of Chinese products.

Average people in South Africa like to have low budget Chinese items in regular markets.

Everyone need low price quality products like:

• Rubber Tyre’s
• Automobile Parts
• Stationary
• Perfumes
• Cosmetics
• Computer appliances
• Computer accessories
• Furniture
• Machinery

Products shipped from China is commonly available in markets.

The African market is full of Chinese items so don’t panic to search for any product.

Visit nearby markets and get your desired things.

-How to get import permit

Importing products from China to South Africa require permission letter before.

Now question arise in mind how to get the permit for importing.

You have to write an application for ITAC to get the permit for importing.

Getting import permit to help you transfer your cargo conveniently.

Some of the 2^nd hand products required to get permission necessarily.

Some documents are required to apply for the application of permit.

• Passport
• Residence certificate
• Commercial Invoice

From 2015 it is recommended to submit Registration Certificate approved from South Africa Police.

ITAC will not process any type of consignment without this registration form.

-where to sourcing your supplier

Selection of supplier is not an easy task.

You need to manage multi location supplier or single location check the availability of supplier.

Another thing, is this supplier fulfill all the manufacturer requirements.

Check the inventory knowledge of supplier, it will help you to find what you want to explore.

Contact the suppliers which is

-if you need a sourcing agent to help you source goods

Source agent is a great power but newbies are not recommended to hire any agent.

Tip#1 Startup sourcing products from China

You need to focus some of the steps necessarily

• Raw material inspection or testing
• Developmental stage testing ( Processing stage)
• Product finalizing.
• Product testing (after completing )

Tip#2 managing the sourcing process

You can’t interact with multiple client, the best thing is if your specific client respond to you.

Contacting 2 or 3 suppliers is not enough to manage sourcing process, you need to contact approximately 50 suppliers to make your process of sourcing smooth.

You need to store some required information to track reports smoothly.

Have a look on the documents:

• Certification
• Product specification
• Pricing information
• Sample cost of products
• Procedure of quality management system

Tip#3 don’t waste time for unsuitable suppliers

Supplier selection is the most critical step of the whole process.

In case you have the wrong supplier and he even don’t have information about your concerns then don’t waste your time.

Choose a better option to continue your sourcing of goods.

By following all above tips you can manage your process cost effectively.

I need to mention some of the Chinese directly contact to the buyers to avoid any mess.

-how to find a reliable freight forwarder to help your shipping

Right logistic partner help to boost your business.

A freight forwarder is responsible for every step of the shipping process.

Every industry has different expectations from freight forwarder.

Some things you must keep in your mind

Tips to find a reliable freight forwarder

Make Sure Freight Forwarder is experienced

Experienced freight forwarder never take you on risk at any step.

They help to handle all shipping requirements with command.

A skilled freight forwarder help you to clear customs duty easily and manage your warehouse issues.

If these things managed properly your business will flourish effortlessly.

Experienced dealings increase the confidence of customers.

Freight forwarder provide service according to your requirement

Determine what you need from the freight forwarder.

Look out the complete outline of freight forwarder services.

You know better which type of freight you want to transfer and which mode of shipping suits you more.

If you have heavy products sea freight is the recommendation for you and if you deliver urgently the air freight service is considered.

Now choose freight forwarder accordingly.

Freight Forwarder have good customer relations

A good freight forwarder should be satisfy the customers and answer all the relevant questions.

Your freight forwarder is good, if he concentrate to your individual needs and help you to deal with documentation issues, customs clearance and other shipment issues.

Check the freight Forwarder References

You must keep an eye on the good and bad reviews of freight forwarder how they deal with other customer’s matters a lot.

You can check references of any freight forwarder from UCM, testimonial page.

Check Communication level of freight forwarder

You need to discuss your shipping requirements, transit time and issues.

You must have level communication with freight forwarder to make your shipping journey more convenient.

-Drop shipping from China to South Africa

You can ship your products by different ways, the way when you sell third party products.

You have business mind but you don’t have ware house and capacity to maintain inventory, you can order to the manufacturer for customer’s order.

You can transfer your products from china to South Africa by drop shipping method.

Get rid of stock tension and typical retail trading.

Most of the products shipped by drop shipping from China are female stuff like clothes, hair products and cosmetics.

Advantages of Drop shipping

Cost Effective

You don’t have the retail store only have to manage virtual inventory in dropshipping.

So minimum requirements, minimum expenditures and low cost.

Location

Distance and location matters a lot in the cost of shipping.

Shipping cost reduced due to various drop shipping service in different locations.

 Drop shipping with Shopify

Shopify help to make the procedure of drop shipping more convenient.

Customer place the order and supplier instantly deliver the product after getting information.

Dropshipping with Ali Express

You can ship your products direct into any ecommerce store and conveniently obtain the products.

You can try Oberlo, worked for AliExpress and for other dealers

How JMS help your shipping from China to South Africa

The best logistic solution, JMS china help you to make your shipping experience comfortable from China to South Africa.

Don’t take the stress of customs clearance, legal formalities of shipping, JMS provide you the relief from this tension.

The best feature of the JMS freight forwarder is providing warehouse free for 30 days in China with the guarantee.

Normally companies offer 7 days free warehouse but we provide 30 days with our container.

10 years of experience make JMS most reliable and flourishing company with cost-effective packages, fulfill all desired requirements of the customers.

Pickup & Delivery Service

JMS China provides you maximum comfort by picking the products from the warehouse and drop at the desired destination without any hassle.

Warehouse

JMS China provides you the additional offer of using the warehouse for 20 to 30 days at no cost.

Insurance

Company provide you maximum security for the goods from China.

JMS can help to insure your products by formal documentation.

JMS freight forwarder never compromise on anything at any cost & offer quality shipping process.

Conclusion

Check how convenient is the shipping from China to South Africa with the freight forwarder.

Hiring of experienced & trusted freight forwarder ensure level service of freight shipping.

You need to determine trust worthy forwarder agent to manage the process of transferring products safely.

Never rely on one supplier when sourcing of products from China.

Every supplier is not reliable enough to provide quality products, you need to manage the second option every time.

Most important thing is, work with established, trusted companies not with new arrivals in the market.

Hope you find the solution to your shipping problems by this guide of shipping from China to South Africa.