Shipping from China: Air vs Sea Freight Cost Comparison

Real cost ranges for express, air freight, LCL, and FCL shipping from China — plus the hidden charges most first-time importers don't account for.

Most buyers compare air and sea shipping options by looking at the headline rate per kilogram and stopping there. That comparison misses at least 30–50% of the actual cost. Here's how the modes actually stack up when you include everything.

The three modes

There are effectively four options when shipping from China, not two:

1. Express courier (DHL, FedEx, UPS door-to-door)
2. Air freight (charter air cargo, airport-to-airport or door-to-door via forwarder)
3. Sea LCL (Less than Container Load — your cargo shares space in a container with other shippers)
4. Sea FCL (Full Container Load — you rent the whole box, 20ft or 40ft)

Each has a natural weight and volume range where it's the most sensible option. The table below shows where each mode fits:

Rates as of early 2026 on major China–Europe and China–US trade lanes. Rates vary by origin city, destination port, season (Q4 is always more expensive), and global freight market conditions. These are indicative ranges, not quotes.

What these rates don't include

This is where first-time importers get surprised.

Customs clearance: $200–400 per shipment in most Western markets. This is the fee your customs broker charges to file the import declaration. It applies whether you ship one box or a container.

Import duties: Entirely separate from freight, calculated as a percentage of the declared customs value (CIF value). Rates vary by HS code and country. Electronics duties in the EU range from 0% to 14% depending on classification. US duties on Chinese goods have additional tariff layers — check USITC for current rates.

Origin charges: If you're using air or sea cargo through a forwarder, expect $50–150 in origin handling fees for air, and $100–250 for sea LCL. These are charged at the Chinese origin port or warehouse.

Destination handling / drayage: For sea cargo, someone has to pick the container up from the port and deliver it to your warehouse. Drayage costs $200–600 depending on distance from the port and container size. For LCL, you also pay a deconsolidation fee ($80–200) at the destination CFS (container freight station).

Cargo insurance: Optional but sensible. Typically 0.3–0.5% of the declared cargo value. On a $30,000 shipment, that's $90–150.

Express surcharges: DHL and FedEx apply fuel surcharges, remote area surcharges, and residential delivery fees that can add 20–40% on top of the base rate. Always get a quote with all surcharges applied before comparing to air freight.

Incoterms: who pays for what

The agreed Incoterm determines where the factory's responsibility ends and yours begins.

EXW (Ex Works): The factory's obligation ends at their factory gate. You pay for everything — inland trucking in China to the port, export customs clearance, freight, import customs, delivery. Most control, most complexity. Not recommended unless you have an experienced forwarder in China.

FOB (Free On Board): The factory delivers goods to the origin port and handles export customs. You pay for freight and everything on the import side. This is the standard term for most buyer-managed freight arrangements. It's what you want when your forwarder is booking the vessel or aircraft.

CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight): The factory (or their freight agent) arranges and pays for freight and insurance to your destination port. You pay from port delivery onward. Sounds convenient but gives you less visibility and control over which carrier is used and what the actual freight cost is.

For most importers working with a freight forwarder, FOB is the right term. It keeps shipment costs transparent and gives you control over carrier selection. For a full breakdown of how payment terms and shipping terms interact, our China payment terms guide covers T/T, L/C, and escrow alongside Incoterms in practice.

The landed cost calculation

Don't compare modes by freight rate alone. The correct comparison is landed cost per unit:

Landed cost per unit =
  (Product cost + freight + customs clearance + duties + drayage + insurance)
  ÷ number of units

Example: 500 units of a Bluetooth speaker, 8 kg each, 25 CBM total, product value $18,000 FOB Shenzhen.

The air freight option adds $44.40 per unit to the product cost. On a product that sells for $80–100, that's the difference between a viable margin and a loss. On an urgent first production run where you're testing market demand, it might still be the right call — but you need to see the number clearly before deciding.

When to use each mode

Samples and prototypes: Always use express. The speed justifies the cost, and sample quantities (1–10 units, typically under 20 kg) are too small for air freight to be efficient.

First production run (pilot): Often air freight makes sense here. You want speed to test market response, and the quantity is usually 200–500 units, which fits the air freight range. Budget for the higher freight cost explicitly.

Recurring production orders: Sea freight once your supply chain is stable and you have lead time visibility. The 3–4 week transit time is manageable if you're reordering before you're out of stock rather than when you're out.

Time-critical replenishment: Air freight at premium cost. Build this into your inventory buffer planning so it's a rare exception, not a regular pattern.

Using a freight forwarder

For your first import shipment — regardless of mode — work with a freight forwarder rather than booking directly with an airline or shipping line. Here's why:

• They handle export customs documentation on the China side, which requires a Chinese licensed entity
• They know which carriers have capacity issues and which are reliable on your trade lane
• They can often consolidate your shipment with others for LCL, which brings down the minimum charges
• They absorb the complexity of destination customs paperwork

For air cargo, forwarders typically have block space agreements with airlines that give them better rates than you'd get booking directly. For sea LCL, consolidating through a forwarder is essentially required — you can't file your own LCL booking with a carrier without going through a licensed consolidator.

A good forwarder quotes you all-in, including origin and destination handling. If a forwarder only quotes "freight" and leaves out the rest, that's a red flag.

For more on logistics planning as part of a full sourcing engagement, see our Logistics & Customs Coordination service — we handle freight coordination alongside production management so these decisions get made before your goods are on a dock. For a real example of how freight mode selection fits into a complete sourcing project, the EU startup Bluetooth speaker case involved coordinating sea LCL freight from Shenzhen to Rotterdam alongside a 5,000-unit production run.