Origin ports we load from every week
Most Philippine imports arrive from a handful of Chinese ports. Which one your supplier ships from has more effect on transit time than almost anything else in the booking.
Shipping from a port that is not listed? We can almost certainly cover it — tell us the load port and we will confirm the service and the routing.
Indicative port-to-port transit times
Sailing time only. Clearance and inland delivery are separate — budget another 3–7 days after the vessel berths.
- South China Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xiamen
- Roughly 3–6 days to Manila on a direct service. The shortest and most frequently served leg of the lane.
- Central China Shanghai, Ningbo
- Roughly 5–9 days to Manila. High sailing frequency, so a missed cut-off usually costs days rather than a week.
- North China Qingdao, Tianjin, Dalian
- Roughly 8–14 days, commonly with a transhipment call. Worth planning a wider buffer around peak season.
- Air freight PVG, CAN, SZX and others
- Typically 2–5 days airport to airport including handling, against 3–5 hours of actual flying time. Consolidation and screening account for most of the difference.
- Clearance on arrival
- Usually 1–3 working days for a straightforward green-lane entry with complete documents. A physical examination or a missing permit extends this.
Figures on this page are indicative planning guides, not quotations. Tariff rates, carrier schedules and Bureau of Customs requirements change — we confirm every figure against your actual cargo and the rules in force on the day before you commit.
Sea or air — how the decision actually gets made
FCL — full container
Your cargo alone in a 20ft, 40ft or 40ft high-cube container. Cheapest per cubic metre above roughly 15 CBM, handled less, and it clears as a single unit. The usual choice for regular production volumes.
LCL — shared container
You pay for the space you use, billed per cubic metre or per 1,000 kg, whichever is greater. Sensible below about 13–15 CBM. Consolidation and deconsolidation add handling days at both ends.
Air freight
Days rather than weeks, at several times the cost per kilo. Justifiable when the cargo is high value against its weight, or when the cost of arriving late is larger than the freight bill.
A valid Form E can remove most of your duty
The single most overlooked saving on this lane.
The Philippines and China are both party to the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area. Where your goods satisfy the agreement’s rules of origin, a Certificate of Origin Form E issued in China entitles them to the preferential tariff rate on entry — for a great many tariff lines, zero. On a container of dutiable goods that is frequently a larger saving than the entire ocean freight.
It is also the document importers most often discover too late. To be accepted it has to:
- Be issued by the authorised body in China, not produced by the supplier themselves.
- Describe the goods consistently with the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading — quantities, marks and descriptions all have to reconcile.
- Show the correct consignee, and cover the actual shipment rather than a previous one.
- Be available when the entry is lodged. Retroactive issuance exists but is slower and not guaranteed to be accepted.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) provides an alternative route to preferential rates on some goods. We check both against your tariff classification and tell you which one leaves you better off — and whether the paperwork is worth the effort for that particular shipment.
What you are actually paying for
A freight rate is not a landed cost. These are the components that show up on a China–Philippines import, and the ones importers most often forget to budget for.
- Origin charges
- Factory collection, export declaration, terminal handling and, on LCL, the consolidation fee at the origin CFS.
- Ocean or air freight
- The headline rate. On sea freight this moves with the market and with peak season surcharges; a rate quoted three weeks ago may not be the rate today.
- Destination terminal handling
- Charged at the port of discharge, and on LCL a deconsolidation charge on top.
- Customs duty
- Assessed on the dutiable value, which in the Philippines is built on a CIF basis — the cost of the goods plus insurance plus freight, not the invoice value alone. The rate follows the tariff classification of the goods.
- Value-added tax
- 12% VAT, calculated on the dutiable value plus the duty plus the other statutory charges — so it compounds on top of the duty rather than sitting beside it.
- Brokerage and statutory fees
- Entry lodgement, the customs documentary stamp, import processing and the arrastre and wharfage charges at the port.
- Delivery
- Trucking from the port to your door, plus any container deposit the shipping line holds until the empty is returned.
- Demurrage and detention if you are late
- Charged once the free time on the container runs out. Entirely avoidable, and the most common unbudgeted cost on this lane.
Figures on this page are indicative planning guides, not quotations. Tariff rates, carrier schedules and Bureau of Customs requirements change — we confirm every figure against your actual cargo and the rules in force on the day before you commit.
What we need from you and your supplier
- Commercial invoice — itemised, with unit values and the agreed Incoterm stated.
- Packing list — carton count, gross and net weights, and dimensions per package.
- Bill of lading or air waybill — issued once the cargo is loaded.
- Certificate of Origin (Form E) — where you intend to claim the ACFTA preferential rate.
- Import permits or clearances — where the commodity is regulated, obtained before arrival rather than after.
- Your BOC importer accreditation — an unregistered importer cannot lodge an entry, and this is not something that can be fixed while the container accrues storage.
Not sure whether your commodity is regulated? Our customs brokerage page sets out which agencies control what, and where shipments typically get held.
The two modes, in detail
FCL shipping from China
Container sizes and what genuinely fits in them, when FCL beats LCL, and how free time, demurrage and detention actually work.
Read moreAir freight from China
How chargeable weight is calculated and why it decides your bill, which routes run, and what air freight will not carry.
Read moreClearing it on arrival
The Bureau of Customs process end to end — entry lodgement, the selectivity lanes, duty and VAT, and the reasons shipments get held.
Read moreFrequently asked
It depends on the load port. South China ports such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Xiamen are the closest to Manila and usually run 3–6 days port to port on a direct service. Shanghai and Ningbo are typically 5–9 days. North China ports such as Qingdao, Tianjin and Dalian are commonly 8–14 days and often route via a transhipment hub. Add roughly 3–7 days for customs clearance and inland delivery once the vessel berths.
As a rough guide, LCL suits consignments up to about 13–15 CBM. Above that a 20ft container usually costs less per cubic metre than the same volume shipped loose, and it is handled less. Air freight is worth the premium when the cargo is light and dense in value, when a production line or a launch date is at risk, or when the freight cost is small next to the cost of being late.
Form E is the Certificate of Origin issued under the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area. Where your goods meet the agreement's rules of origin, a valid Form E can reduce the Philippine import duty on them, in many tariff lines to zero. It has to be issued by the authorised body in China, describe the goods consistently with your invoice and bill of lading, and be presented when the entry is lodged. Ask your supplier for it before the cargo ships — obtaining one retroactively is possible but slower and not always accepted.
Yes. We arrange collection at the supplier's premises, export customs formalities at origin, and consolidation or container stuffing before loading. If you are buying EXW or FOB, this is the part of the journey most importers underestimate, and it is where most origin-side delays start.
Yes. We clear at the port of discharge and truck onward across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Where a regional port is the faster or cheaper route, we will route the cargo to Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos or Subic instead of hauling it overland from Manila.
Get this lane costed properly
Send us the load port, the commodity and the volume. You will get an itemised quotation covering freight, clearance and delivery — not a freight rate with the rest left as a surprise.