Third-country · FCL · Any port to any port
Cross-trade shipping, neither end in the UK.
Not every container you move starts or finishes in Britain. We arrange full container sea freight between two other countries, say China to Nigeria or Turkey to the USA, and run the whole job from our UK desk. You still get one operator, customs handled at both ends through trusted partners, and a quote within 24 hours.
What it means
What cross-trade shipping is
Cross-trade, also called third-country shipping, is when cargo moves between two countries and neither one is where your forwarder sits. The container is collected at origin, sails to the destination port and is delivered there. It never passes through the UK.
Plenty of businesses buy in one country and sell in another. A UK company might source goods from a factory in China and ship them straight to a customer in Lagos. A trader might move Turkish manufactured goods into the United States. We book the space, manage the documents and keep one person across the file, so you are not stitching together two separate forwarders at opposite ends of the world.
Lanes we run most
Cross-trade lanes we know
China to Nigeria
A heavy lane for traders buying in China and selling into West Africa. Full containers from the main Chinese ports into Lagos or Onne, with import clearance arranged at the Nigerian end.
Turkey to the USA
Turkish manufactured goods, textiles, machinery and building products into US East Coast ports. We use the Turkey knowledge we built over years on the corridor.
Your lane
Asia to the Middle East, Europe to Africa, the Far East to South America. If both ports are workable for full containers, tell us the two ends and we will price it.
Browse by region: Asia · Africa · Middle East · Europe · See all routes
Origin → Destination · One operator
How a cross-trade move works
The UK is not a stop on the route. It is just where the file is run from. The same person who books the sailing answers your WhatsApp, so you always know where the container is and what happens next.
Export at origin · Import at destination
Customs at both ends
A cross-trade shipment needs export clearance in the country it leaves and import clearance in the country it arrives. We arrange both through trusted partners in each market, and prepare the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading before the container sails.
Because one operator holds the whole file, the origin and destination sides talk to each other. Your shipment does not fall into the gap between two brokers who have never spoken. How our customs clearance works.
We ship full containers only, every standard and special type, so machinery, project cargo and out-of-gauge loads are all in scope. More on container shipping.
Straight answers
Cross-trade shipping questions
What is cross-trade shipping?
Cross-trade, sometimes called third-country shipping, is when your container moves between two countries and neither one is the country where your forwarder is based. For us that means a shipment that never touches the UK, for example a full container from China to Nigeria, booked and managed from our UK desk.
Do you handle customs at both ends of a cross-trade shipment?
Yes. Export clearance at origin and import clearance at destination are arranged through our trusted partners in each country. We line up the paperwork before the container sails so it is not held up at either port.
Can you ship cross-trade with full container loads only?
We ship FCL only, a 20ft or 40ft container, and all standard and special equipment including reefer, open-top, flat-rack and out-of-gauge. Cross-trade works best when you have enough cargo to fill a container at origin.
24h turnaround · No obligation
Got two ports in mind?
Tell us the origin country, the destination country and what you are shipping. We will come back with a tailored FCL quote within 24 hours on working days.
Already hold a quote from another forwarder? Send us this route and we’ll give you ours to compare.
Related: All shipping routes · UK to Turkey · China to the UK · Container shipping