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LCL (Less Than Container Load) shipping is when you ship goods via sea freight and they’re loaded into a shared container with other people’s goods for transit.
LCL (Less than Container Load)
With Less than Container Load, the cargo does not occupy an entire container and goods of several shippers are loaded together in one container.
For the most common destinations, there are standard rates so that the customer immediately knows what the shipment will cost.
LCL Benefits
- Good for shipping small loads – early on, a business might want to ship lower volumes of goods initially before ramping up volumes, LCL is a good option to start off when trading
- Lower sourcing risk – if you’re sourcing goods from numerous suppliers to test stock, using LCL can prevent ordering a bulk volume of goods as your first test run
- Shorter delivery time – because you won’t need to wait until you need sufficient volume to send a whole container of goods, the goods ordered would arrive to your destination faster
- Less inventory management – as the volume of goods are lower than that for a full container, inventory management in the warehouse will be minimal
What is LCL Shipping?
LCL (Less Than Container Load) shipping can be an easy cheaper alternative option to FCL (Full Container Load) shipping. The essential difference is that instead of filling an entire container with your goods, you’re sharing a container with other importers. This mode of transport means that you don’t have to buy enough stock to fill an entire container load – and that, instead of paying for an entire container, you only pay for the space inside of one that you use. This is particularly helpful for smaller businesses, or first time importers who are just testing the waters.
(By the way – we specialise in LCL shipping, so get in contact if you’re interested, or would like to know more information!)
Below, we’ve explained how the entire process of LCL shipping works.
- Our local overseas agent will contact your supplier
- They will decide, based on the readiness of the goods, which container ship they will catch
- The goods will be collected or delivered to a warehouse near/at the port of origin
- The warehouse will load them into a shared container with the cargo from other customers
- The container will be sealed and taken to the port
- It’s loaded onto the container ship which brings it to the Cyprus
- In the Cyprus the container is taken off the ship and moved to a local warehouse
- At the warehouse your goods will be unpacked from the container
- We’ll declare them to Cyprus customs (using the invoice for the goods, your EORI number (we can help if you don’t have one) and the commodity code(s) for your goods.
- We’ll contact you to arrange delivery the goods once cleared and released
- Delivery arrives outside your premises
- You unload your goods from the truck and then use/sell/enjoy them!
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