Air freight from China: 7 tips for importing your goods smoothly

Cotton, tea, and rice are only a few of the commodities that have made China the world’s largest exporter of goods. When importing from China, shipping by air is, without doubt, the best way for moving your goods quickly. However, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure the safe transportation and timely arrival of your goods. Here are seven tips to assist in importing your goods as smoothly as possible.

1. What is peak season and how may it affect my shipment?

Peak season in air freight happens when the e-commerce kicks in and businesses prepare for the holiday season such as Christmas, Golden Week, Chinese New Year and so on. It may also occur as a consequence of the situation in sea freight. As the flights get fully booked, shipping rates go up because of limited capacity and transit times increase.

To avoid unnecessary costs and delays, make sure to plan for your shipment. To optimise your goods flow, book your shipments a few weeks in advance if possible. As warehouses will be very congested during this period, loading and unloading will take longer time. Prepare for extra fees as the shipping rates will be up.

If your shipment also includes road freight, prepare for extra trucking wait fees. Sometimes choosing a transport service with slightly longer transit time will pay off as the fastest transit time-services may be overbooked. (If you pay enough money, however, you will get space). Make sure to plan for your shipment and provide a prognosis of your goods volumes to your freight forwarder.

In general, e-commerce is rapidly increasing and continues to be a leading driver of growth in global air freight traffic. To pave the way for an optimal goods flow in the future, make sure to keep a close dialogue with your freight forwarder.

2. What is magnetic inspection and how may it affect my shipment?

Magnetic items are classified as dangerous goods and restricted for air freight exports in China. As magnetic fields may cause interference with the control signals of aircrafts’ navigation systems, magnetic inspections are carried out prior to loading export goods.

If you are shipping magnetic goods such as magnets, ferrite cores, nickel or cobalt, a magnetic inspection is required. But also audio equipment such as speakers, microphones, and other equipment such as hairdryers, mobile phones, and computers as well as magnetic packaging material may require magnetic inspections.

Your shipment may be affected in terms of both cost and time as dangerous goods fees apply to each package shipped by air and there is also the extra time for carrying out the inspections. Make sure to be well prepared by contacting your freight forwarder for information and guidelines about shipments of magnetic or dangerous goods. You can also prepare an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) to provide information and guidance in the handling of your goods.

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