Current Freight Rates
Price data updating. Contact us for current rates.
Trade Terms Explained — Who Pays for What EXW, FOB, CIF, DDP and seven more — see which costs sit with us and which sit with you
The rate above is quoted on one specific trade term. Change the term and you change how much of the journey to Kenya is already inside the price. The table below maps the eleven common Incoterms® against the twelve cost stages of a door-to-door shipment, so you can see exactly where our responsibility ends and yours begins.
- Seller — Cost and arrangement sit with the seller / shipper.
- Buyer — Cost and arrangement sit with the buyer / consignee.
- Negotiable — Not fixed by the rule — agree it in the contract.
| Term | 1 Loading on truck | 2 Export customs declaration | 3 Carriage to port of export | 4 Unloading at port of export | 5 Loading on vessel / aircraft | 6 Main carriage | 7 Cargo insurance | 8 Unloading at port of import | 9 Loading on truck at import | 10 Carriage to destination | 11 Import customs clearance | 12 Import duties & taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXW Ex Works | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck | Buyer Buyer — Export customs declaration | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to port of export | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FCA Free Carrier | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to port of export | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FAS Free Alongside Ship | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FOB Free On Board | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CFR Cost and Freight | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Seller Seller — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CPT Carriage Paid To | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Seller Seller — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU) | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DAP Delivered At Place | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DDP Delivered Duty Paid | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Seller Seller — Import customs clearance | Seller Seller — Import duties & taxes |
EXW Ex Works
Buyer takes over at the seller's door and carries every cost from there. Lowest quoted price, highest buyer workload.
FCA Free Carrier
Seller clears the goods for export and hands them to the carrier the buyer nominated.
FAS Free Alongside Ship
Sea and inland waterway only. Seller delivers alongside the vessel; loading is on the buyer.
FOB Free On Board
Sea and inland waterway only. Risk passes once the goods are on board. The most common buying term.
CFR Cost and Freight
Seller pays the main carriage but carries no insurance obligation; risk still passes on loading.
CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight
As CFR, plus the seller must buy and pay for cargo insurance (minimum cover unless you agree more).
CPT Carriage Paid To
Any mode. Seller pays carriage through to the named destination; insurance is not obligatory.
CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid
As CPT, plus the seller must insure the cargo through to the named destination.
DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU)
Seller delivers unloaded at the named terminal. Renamed DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded) in Incoterms® 2020.
DAP Delivered At Place
Seller delivers to your address ready for unloading; import clearance and duty stay with the buyer.
DDP Delivered Duty Paid
Seller carries everything through to your door, duty and tax included. Highest quoted price, least buyer workload.
Two things worth flagging. Under CIF and CIP the seller is obliged to buy cargo insurance and pay the premium; under every other term insurance is optional, and we recommend buyers arrange their own cover so a loss or damage in transit is recoverable. And this table is a working summary for planning purposes — the binding definitions are the ones published by the International Chamber of Commerce in the Incoterms® rules, so confirm the exact term wording in your sales contract before you ship.
Service Details
Shanghai → Mombasa Container Shipping
Shanghai to Mombasa container shipping, priced per box rather than per CBM. This is the lane to book when the cargo fills a container or when it should not share one: machinery, stone, steel, building materials and project pieces all move better as FCL because nothing else is loaded around them. Plan on 25–38 days port to port port to port.
Port-to-port means exactly that: the rate ends at the Mombasa terminal gate. Typical dwell at destination runs 7–21 days before the box is available for collection, and that window sits outside the transit figure above. Origin haulage, export declaration, destination clearance, duty and delivery beyond the terminal are all quoted separately, so ask for a door figure if that is what you are comparing against.
Rate by Container Type
- 20GP — quoted on request for the current sailing
- 40HQ — quoted on request for the current sailing
The per-kilogram rate above applies to chargeable weight, not to what the scale says. At 166.7 kg per cubic meter, a carton of light goods can be billed at several times its actual weight, so send dimensions with the weight when you ask for a quote into Kenya — a rate quoted without them is only ever provisional.
In practice the cargo we move on this lane clusters into a few recognisable shapes — home decor (HS 94), where clearance turns on timber due diligence (EUTR / EUDR) and UK upholstery fire regulations, conveyor belts (HS 39 / 40) and fasteners (HS 73 / 82 / 83). Each behaves differently against the rate: one fills the payload before it fills the space, the next does the reverse, and the packing brief we send back with the quote is written to the one you are actually shipping.
To see this tariff against a real consignment rather than a rate card, the 100 KG, 300 KG and 500 KG pages run it at a fixed weight and show the landed total, including the point where stepping up a bracket lowers your cost per kilo. They are the fastest way to check whether consolidating two orders into one is worth the wait.
Rate cards are hard to read against a real order, so we also publish worked examples at fixed weights: 100 KG, 300 KG and 500 KG, each showing what that shipment actually costs door to door on this lane. If you are still choosing between transport modes the China to Kenya Sea Freight Cost comparison is the better starting point, and shipping from China to Kenya covers the whole journey rather than just the freight.
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Additional Information
Scope, Exclusions and What to Check Before Booking
This is a port-to-port FCL rate for Shanghai to Mombasa. It covers ocean freight for one container and stops at the Mombasa terminal gate. Everything either side of that — trucking to Shanghai, customs at both ends, duty and tax for Kenya, inland delivery — is quoted on request rather than bundled, which keeps the freight number comparable between carriers.
- Priced per box in USD for 20GP and 40HQ, not per KG or per CBM — utilization is yours to optimize
- Transit 25–38 days port to port port to port on Shanghai to Mombasa, subject to the sailing booked
- Heavy and out-of-gauge cargo is core traffic here: machinery, steel, stone, building materials, project pieces
- Cut-off and free time attach to the specific sailing; demurrage begins the day free time expires
- Reefer, dangerous goods and out-of-gauge are priced case by case rather than from the card
- Clearance at destination is handled by the national customs service; the consignee must be registered to import
- Destination conformity for Kenya: Pre-shipment conformity certificate
The most expensive mistake on a Shanghai to Mombasa booking is not the freight rate, it is free time. Demurrage and detention start counting at the Mombasa terminal whether or not your consignee is ready, and on a bad week they can exceed the ocean freight itself. Confirm how many free days the booking carries before you fix a collection date.
Before you book, confirm two things with your consignee: that they are registered to import into Kenya, and that whoever is named as importer of record accepts the duty liability. Those are dull questions and they are also the two that most often surface only after the cargo has already sailed.
Where these numbers come from
Duty and tax figures on this page are planning estimates. The binding assessment is made by the national customs service against your declared HS code at the time of entry; where the amount is material, verify the current rate through ITC Market Access Map before committing to an order.
Classification drives everything downstream: the same carton can attract very different duty depending on the heading it lands in, and the structure those headings come from is the World Customs Organization Harmonized System. If your product sits near a boundary between two headings, resolve it before shipping rather than at the border.
For ocean cargo, restricted commodities move under the IMO's IMDG Code, and the container has to be declared and stowed accordingly. Batteries, flammables and corrosives all have a compliant ocean path; what causes rolled bookings is finding out about them after the container is packed.
If this is your first shipment into Kenya, the Kenya Country Commercial Guide covers the practical import environment in more depth than a rate page reasonably can, and it is written by a party with no stake in your booking.
China to Kenya — Shipping Reference Data
| Main sea gateways | the main commercial seaport |
|---|---|
| Destination customs authority | the national customs service |
| De-minimis / duty-free threshold | No practical de-minimis |
| Import tax & duty regime | Import VAT + duty 5–35%; PSI common |
| Local currency | USD |
| Typical clearance / dwell time | 7–21 days |
| Peak / busy season | Oct–Dec |
| Conformity & certification | Pre-shipment conformity certificate |
Thresholds and duty bands are buyer-planning references, not formal customs rulings — confirm the exact HS-code rate for your goods before shipping.
Free 3D Loading Tools for This Sea Route
This page covers a Sea freight service from China to Kenya. Use the matching tool below to plan your cargo before requesting a quote.
3D Container Loading Planner
Maximize every CBM on this route: load your carton list into the 3D container planner, check space and payload utilization, and download the loading plan for your forwarder.
Open Container Planner →Kenya Sea Freight Checklist
- Photograph the container number, seal, and loading process for insurance evidence.
- Confirm whether your Kenya rate is per CBM or per container before comparing quotes.
- Reserve loading space 5-7 days before the sailing cut-off for this route during peak season.
- Ask whether the quote includes destination port charges in Kenya or only ocean freight.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Sea FCL Port-to-Port from China to Kenya take?
Sea freight on this route runs about 25–45 calendar days door-to-door, plus roughly 7–21 days of clearance/dwell once it reaches the gateway. All times include customs clearance under DDP terms.
What duties and taxes apply when importing into Kenya?
Clearance is handled by the national customs service. The regime is: Import VAT + duty 5–35%; PSI common, with a de-minimis position of No practical de-minimis. Under DDP these are pre-paid, so nothing is collected on arrival.
Can you ship special cargo (batteries, branded goods) to Kenya?
Yes — battery goods by sea follow UN3480/UN3481 rules with an MSDS; we prepare the dangerous-goods paperwork as part of DDP into the main commercial seaport. Surcharges apply.
How is the shipping cost on this route calculated?
We compare actual gross weight against volumetric weight (L×W×H ÷ 6000, so one cubic meter counts as about 166.7 kg) and charge whichever is greater, rounded up to the next kilogram, then apply the per-KG rate shown in the table above. A 300 kg consignment measuring out to only 200 kg volumetric is still charged on the 300 kg.
What certification is needed to import into Kenya?
For regulated goods, plan for: Pre-shipment conformity certificate. Missing conformity paperwork is the most common clearance hold with the national customs service, so confirm requirements for your HS code before shipping.
What documents are required for customs clearance in Kenya?
the national customs service typically requires a commercial invoice with HS codes, a packing list, the bill of lading/air waybill, a certificate of origin (may lower duty), and any product certification (Pre-shipment conformity certificate). We file these under DDP.
Shipping Kenya cargo by industry
This rate is for the lane. What decides whether the cargo arrives intact is the commodity — how it prices, how it must be packed and loaded, and which compliance step holds it at the border. These guides cover that per industry.
- Textiles Textiles, Apparel, Footwear & Leather
- Restaurant Furniture Retail, Display & Commercial Fixtures
- Metal Fabrication Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Pressure Vessels Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Switchgear New Energy, Power & Electrical
- Doors & Windows Building Materials & Construction Products
- Corrugated Packaging Wood, Bamboo & Paper Products
- Glass Packaging Plastics, Rubber & Packaging
- Kitchenware Furniture & Home Products
- Home Textiles Textiles, Apparel, Footwear & Leather
- Inflatable Products Toys, Sports, Outdoor & Leisure
- Bolts Metal Products & Industrial Components
About China Ocean Freight
China Ocean Freight is a China-based freight forwarder for importers who buy from Chinese factories. We handle the whole move: pickup from your supplier, warehouse consolidation, export customs, the main sea, air or rail leg, import clearance and delivery to your door.
On this lane we consolidate at our China warehouse, load at Shenzhen, Guangzhou or Ningbo, and coordinate the destination port, customs entry and final delivery in Kenya.
- One coordinator owns your shipment from booking to delivery
- Prices taken from current carrier tariffs, not index averages
- Supplier pickup, inspection, repacking and labeling in China
- DDP or DAP terms, with every charge stated before you book