Steel is oversized and heavy — the trade term you pick decides who controls shipping and insurance.
Trade-term experience from ordinary cargo often fails with steel. Structures fill entire containers with heavy, oversized pieces, and destination paperwork is complex — so reconsider:
FOB: the buyer controls carrier choice and freight negotiation. Best for buyers with a reliable forwarder and destination-port experience — our recommended default.
CIF: the seller arranges freight and insurance — convenient, but steel often needs special equipment (open-top, flat-rack), and volatile freight gets baked into the price.
DAP/DDP: seller delivers to door, even clearing customs — highest risk and complexity, advisable only with a dependable destination agent.
One practical note regardless of term: the packing plan should be designed by the factory. If container loading order ignores erection sequence, unloading on site becomes chaos — a hidden cost far beyond any freight saving.
Shanghai Xionglan Steel Structure · Exported to 60+ countries · EN 1090 CE certified · Engineer reply within 24 hours
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