Japan is an important trading partner for many UK businesses, with manufacturers and suppliers exporting everything from automotive parts and machinery to consumer goods and specialist equipment. We recently arranged a sea freight from Japan shipment for a UK importer who had purchased cargo on EXW (Ex Works) terms, requiring a complete shipping service from the supplier’s premises in Japan through to final delivery in the UK.
The shipment involved a full container load (FCL) collected from the supplier in Nagoya, before being transported to Osaka port for export and onward sea freight from Japan to Southampton port in the UK.
When purchasing goods under EXW terms, the buyer takes responsibility for the movement of cargo from the supplier’s premises. For many importers, this can create additional challenges, particularly when dealing with overseas suppliers, export procedures and international shipping arrangements.
For this shipment, our team took control of the entire process in conjunction with our partner agent based in Osaka (thanks to our founding member ship of the freight forwarder network MarcoPoloLine), who arranged collection from the supplier’s facility in Nagoya and coordinating the movement of the container to the port of Osaka. Managing shipping from Japan in this way provides UK importers with a single point of contact while ensuring every stage of the shipment remains under control.
With the container loaded and secured, our agent in Japan coordinated the necessary export documentation and customs procedures before arranging the sea freight from Japan to the UK.
Osaka is one of Japan’s major international shipping gateways and offers regular connections to Europe. For this particular movement, the container was shipped via Osaka to Southampton in the UK, with a transit time of 45 days port to port. As with many sea freight from Japan shipments, routing can vary depending on vessel schedules, carrier availability and transhipment options, however, they typically take between 40 and 50 days port to port.
Following arrival in Southampton, we coordinated UK customs clearance and arranged delivery of the container to the customer’s premises for unloading. From collection at the supplier’s premises in Nagoya, through export handling at Osaka, ocean freight to Southampton and final delivery in the UK, every aspect of the shipment was coordinated by our team.
For businesses importing goods from Japan, sea freight from Japan provides a reliable and cost-effective solution for moving full (and part – LCL) container loads to the UK. With transit times typically between 40 and 50 days, careful planning and experienced freight management remain key to achieving a successful shipment.
If you have a shipment for sea freight from Japan, whether it is a single pallet, or multiple full container loads, get in touch with our team who will be happy to provide you with a quote. To provide you with a cost, we will need to know the incoterm, collection postcode in Japan (if EXW), weights and dimensions of the pieces – or size of the container required if a full load, plus the postcode in the UK for delivery. To request a quote from our team, you can call us on (+44) 02392 756 575, email sales@mercatorcargo.co.uk or complete the form below and we will be in touch.
