Cost of shipping a 40ft container from China to Nigeria

Cost of shipping a 40ft container from China to Nigeria in 2026: ocean freight, Lagos charges, Customs, clearing, haulage and demurrage.

The cost of shipping a 40ft container from China to Nigeria is not one freight quote.

It is a stack of bills.

You may pay the ocean freight in dollars before the container leaves China, then arrive in Lagos and still face shipping-line charges, terminal fees, Customs duty and taxes, clearing-agent fees, haulage and possibly storage or container charges.

That is why a forwarder can quote $3,500 shipping and the container still costs several million naira more before it reaches your warehouse.

This guide separates the bill properly.

How much is a 40ft container from China to Nigeria in September 2026? #

One publicly updated September 2026 freight guide currently puts a 40GP container from China to Lagos at roughly $3,150–$3,850 port-to-port. It gives a 35–38 day indicative transit time.

Treat that as a market reference, not a guaranteed booking rate.

A separate public COSCO listing for Shanghai–Lagos showed $4,085 for a 40GP/40HC, while explicitly warning that the quotation had expired and needed reconfirmation. Other September market references are higher again.

The lesson is simple:

There is no one China-to-Nigeria container price.

Your quote changes with:

• Chinese port;
• 40GP or 40HC;
• shipping line;
• direct or transshipment route;
• sailing date;
• available space;
• peak-season surcharge;
• fuel and other carrier surcharges;
• and what the forwarder's quotation actually includes.

Get a fresh quotation for the week you intend to book.

Ask whether the quote is EXW, FOB or port-to-port #

This catches first-time importers.

Suppose your supplier is in Foshan and your forwarder quotes:

$3,600 Guangzhou to Lagos.

Ask where that price actually starts.

If you bought the goods EXW, you may still have to pay for:

• factory pickup;
• trucking to the Chinese port;
• export documentation;
• Chinese Customs handling;
• origin terminal charges;
• VGM;
• documentation;
• and other China-side expenses.

With a proper FOB quotation, the supplier normally handles more of the origin-side work up to loading under the agreed port terms.

Two freight quotes showing the same ocean rate can therefore produce very different final bills.

Ocean freight is only the first major cost #

Ocean freight pays for the international movement of the container.

It does not automatically include everything in China or Nigeria.

Also check whether the quotation already includes carrier surcharges.

For example, Maersk increased its Peak Season Surcharge for shipments from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to Nigeria to $1,600 per 40ft container from 25 May 2026 until further notice.

So when somebody sends:

Ocean freight: $3,500

ask:

Does that include PSS and all carrier surcharges?

What China-origin charges are separate?

What Nigerian destination charges are separate?

Do that before booking.

What does the shipping line charge in Lagos? #

The shipping line has its own Nigerian destination invoice.

Each carrier uses its own tariff.

Maersk's current published Nigeria import tariff, for example, still lists these charges for a standard 40ft dry container:

• Documentation/release fee — ₦43,200
• Container protect fee — ₦4,000
• Port additional charge/port dues — ₦90,000
• Destination certificate — ₦100
• Published container deposit within Lagos — ₦200,000

That is already ₦337,300, although the ₦200,000 deposit is intended as security rather than a permanent freight cost if it is refunded.

Other shipping lines have their own tariffs and names for these charges.

Do not copy Maersk's figures into an MSC, CMA CGM, COSCO or Hapag-Lloyd shipment.

Ask your line for the current destination tariff.

Wait — are container deposits still being charged? #

Yes, in practice.

This is one of the confusing parts of shipping in Nigeria in 2026.

The Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025 introduced a framework intended to replace cash container deposits with insurance and prohibits the old upfront-deposit model.

But implementation has not completely caught up with the law.

As of August 2026, Nigerian importers were still reporting that shipping lines continued to collect container deposits and detention charges.

Maersk's own currently published Nigeria tariff still shows ₦200,000 for a 40ft dry-container deposit within Lagos.

So do not write:

“Container deposits no longer exist.”

Ask the shipping line what it is actually charging on your shipment.

If you believe an unapproved or unlawful port charge has been imposed, the current port economic regulator is NPERA — the Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency. It replaced the former Nigerian Shippers' Council in August 2026 and now regulates port tariffs, charges and commercial disputes.

How much is demurrage or detention on a 40ft container? #

This is where a cheap shipment becomes expensive.

Using Maersk's currently published Nigeria tariff as one real example, a 40ft dry import container gets the first seven days free under its published equipment tariff.

After that the current 40ft daily charges shown are:

• Days 8–10 — ₦15,225 per day
• Days 11–16 — ₦21,170 per day
• Days 17–22 — ₦25,375 per day
• Day 23 onward — ₦29,580 per day

That means the cost accelerates.

The longer the container remains unresolved, the more expensive each additional day becomes.

And these shipping-line charges are not necessarily the only clock running.

Terminal storage is a separate bill #

The terminal can charge you separately from the shipping line.

At Apapa, for example, APM Terminals publishes its own current tariff for terminal services and storage. Its tariff page remains the place to check the applicable live charges rather than relying on figures copied from an older import blog.

The important point is:

Shipping-line container charges and terminal storage are different charges.

A delayed container can therefore accumulate both.

Your clearing agent should tell you:

When does shipping-line free time end?

and separately:

When does terminal free storage end?

Those two dates can determine whether a delay costs thousands or hundreds of thousands of naira.

Customs is usually the biggest Nigerian number #

Customs duty and taxes are not technically ocean freight.

But they are part of what you must pay before the goods can become usable stock.

Nigeria Customs' current procedure requires the importer to complete the Form M and applicable regulatory documents, obtain PAAR, lodge the declaration, receive the assessment, make the statutory payment and complete Customs release.

The amount depends on:

• your HS code;
• Customs value;
• applicable duty rate;
• VAT;
• levies;
• and the specific treatment of the product.

So a 40ft container of solar panels will not carry the same Customs bill as a 40ft container of ceramic tiles.

Do not ask:

“How much is Customs for a 40ft container?”

Ask:

“What is Customs for this product, at this value and this HS code?”

Our Customs duty calculator guide explains that calculation.

The HS code can change the whole calculation #

Your Chinese supplier may write:

Household goods

on the invoice.

That is not enough.

Nigeria Customs needs proper classification.

B'Odogwu is now Customs' core electronic trade platform for processes including Form M, PAAR, declarations, assessment and release.

Confirm the HS code before the supplier ships.

If your clearing agent discovers after arrival that the product was wrongly classified, the freight rate will be the least interesting part of your problem.

How much does the clearing agent charge? #

There is no official universal clearing-agent fee.

The agent's professional charge depends on the shipment and the work involved.

A container of ordinary non-regulated goods is not the same assignment as food requiring NAFDAC clearance or mixed electrical products requiring SONCAP.

What matters is that the quotation separates:

Agent's fee

from

government payments

from

shipping-line charges

from

terminal charges

from

haulage.

Avoid:

Clearing and port charges — ₦6,500,000.

Ask for the breakdown.

Our clearing agent for China goods in Lagos guide explains how to verify the agent and quotation.

The truck is another separate cost #

Once the container is released, it still has to leave the port.

Trucks entering Apapa and Tin Can operate through the Eto electronic call-up system, which schedules port truck access.

A Lagos delivery is one price.

A container going to:

• Aba;
• Onitsha;
• Port Harcourt;
• Abuja;
• Kaduna;
• or Kano

is an entirely different haulage job.

Diesel price, truck supply, road conditions, cargo weight and empty-container return all affect the quotation.

I would not publish a 2023 Kano haulage figure as a September 2026 price.

Get a current quote.

Our container haulage from Lagos guide explains what should be included.

Do not forget the empty container #

If the shipping line owns the box, your responsibility does not necessarily end when the truck reaches your warehouse.

The empty container normally has to be returned to the approved depot within the applicable free period.

So if your warehouse is in Kano, your road calculation is not simply:

Apapa → Kano.

You need to understand the arrangement for the empty box as well.

Ask before dispatch:

Who returns the empty?

To which depot?

Who pays the return trip?

When does detention stop?

Do not learn this after unloading.

The complete 40ft container bill #

For planning purposes, think of the shipment as these separate lines:

1. China factory-to-port cost
Only if your purchase terms leave this to you.

2. China origin charges
Export handling, documentation and applicable terminal charges.

3. Ocean freight
The carrier/forwarder price to Lagos.

4. Freight surcharges
Such as PSS and other carrier charges if not already included.

5. Nigerian marine insurance
Required as part of the normal import process.

6. Shipping-line destination charges
Release, documentation and other carrier tariffs.

7. Terminal charges
Handling, storage and examination-related services where applicable.

8. Customs duty, VAT and levies
Based on the goods.

9. Clearing-agent fee

10. Truck/haulage

Then there is the line you should try to keep at zero:

11. Delay charges.

That includes storage, detention/demurrage and other costs created because the container was not cleared or returned within the allowed time.

Which costs can you actually control? #

Some more than others.

Ocean freight: compare several forwarders and sailings.

China-side costs: negotiate your Incoterm clearly.

Customs duty: you cannot negotiate the lawful tariff, but you can classify the goods correctly before shipping.

Agent fee: compare itemised quotations.

Truck: compare current route quotations.

Storage and detention: prepare early enough that you never need to pay them.

That last category is one of the easiest places to protect margin.

Have the Form M and regulatory documents correct before shipment.

Process PAAR before arrival.

Give your clearing agent the documents early.

Know the free-time deadline.

Have the transport plan ready before release.

Do not budget from the freight quote alone #

Imagine a supplier tells you:

40ft shipping to Lagos — $3,500.

That number tells you almost nothing about the full Nigerian landed cost.

You still need to know:

• what origin costs are excluded;
• whether carrier surcharges are included;
• Nigerian shipping-line charges;
• terminal charges;
• Customs taxes;
• clearing;
• haulage;
• insurance;
• and whether the container clears inside its free days.

The cost of shipping a 40ft container from China to Nigeria is therefore better understood as:

China logistics + ocean freight + Nigerian port costs + Customs + clearance + inland delivery.

That is the number to compare against your expected sales.

Not the $3,500 written on a WhatsApp quotation.

Before you book the container, build the whole shipment in our landed cost from China to Nigeria guide, check the shipping company guide, and make sure your Form M is ready.

If ChinaBridge is handling the China side, we can compare the available sailing options, clarify what each freight quotation includes, coordinate the export documents and hand the shipment over to your Nigerian clearing side with the file already organised.

First published 26 Sep 2026. Last checked 26 Sep 2026 by The ChinaBridge desk. Something here out of date? Tell us in the comments and we will fix it.