How Much Does It Cost to Ship from China to Germany? Dated Prices by Mode
Summary: On September 10, 2026, Drewry WCI assessed Shanghai–Rotterdam, its North Europe route, at US$3,997 per 40ft container. For air cargo, Freightos reported USD 4.88/kg from the Far East to Europe in the week before its September 8 update. Hamburg and Bremerhaven prices come from a quote.
Some market price references on this page date from September 8, 2026 or earlier. Market prices change, so confirm the current value in your quote.
How Much Does It Cost to Ship from China to Germany?
There is no single price for this lane. Two public references give you a dated starting point. Drewry's World Container Index assessed Shanghai–Rotterdam at US$3,997 per 40ft dry container on September 10, 2026. Rotterdam is the index's North Europe port, so read it as a regional benchmark. Our FCL container rates guide shows the same figure.
For air cargo, Freightos reported USD 4.88/kg from the Far East to Europe. That was for the week before its September 8, 2026 update. The air freight cost per kg guide explains how that kind of price is built. Both are published references, not Suaid Global tariffs. Our Germany shipping page covers the ports and the customs basics.
| Route | Mode and unit | Published reference | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| China (Shanghai) → North Europe | Ocean, 40ft dry container | US$3,997 | Drewry WCI, Shanghai–Rotterdam assessment, Sep 10, 2026 |
| Far East → Europe | Air, per chargeable kg | USD 4.88/kg | Freightos, week before the Sep 8, 2026 update |
The Drewry figure covers port-to-port transport between container yards. Inland transport, documents, booking and customs clearance sit outside it. Terminal handling varies by route. Check which surcharges a quote already includes before you add anything.
A quote for Hamburg or Bremerhaven replaces both references. It should name the port, the service, the validity date and every charge line.
Ocean Freight: Price per Container
Many requests on this lane are the size of a full container. Ask for a 20ft, a 40ft and a 40ft High Cube price. Each one is quoted on its own. Do not scale a 40ft price to guess a 20ft rate.
Maersk lists about 67.7 m³ of volume for a 40ft dry container and about 76.4 m³ for a 40ft High Cube. That is the empty box, not the space you can fill. Check pallet layout, door size and payload before you choose.
Name the German port in the request. Hamburg and Bremerhaven are quoted on their own, with their own terminal fees. The table lists common port pairs to ask about.
| Origin | Destination | Price basis |
|---|---|---|
| Shanghai, ChinaQuote this route | Hamburg, Germany | Quote per container type |
| Ningbo, ChinaQuote this route | Bremerhaven, Germany | Quote per container type |
Historical Container Prices: Far East to North Europe, May 2026
Hapag-Lloyd published these FAK rates from the Far East to North Europe, excluding the UK, for sailings from May 15, 2026. They are historical carrier prices. They are not September rates and do not confirm space. Our ocean freight rates guide lists the same notice.
| Equipment | USD / container — May 15, 2026 |
|---|---|
| 20ft dry | 2,300 |
| 40ft dry | 3,500 |
| 40ft High Cube | 3,500 |
| 20ft refrigerated | 2,300 |
| 40ft refrigerated | 3,500 |
Source: Hapag-Lloyd price announcement. Marine Fuel Recovery (MFR) is included. Terminal handling, security, local and contingency charges may apply.
LCL: Price per CBM and the W/M Rule
LCL means your cargo shares a container with other shipments. Most LCL rates use weight or measure, written W/M. One cubic metre counts the same as 1,000 kg. The rate applies to the larger of the two.
Take 2 CBM of cartons that weigh 800 kg. The weight is 0.8 tonnes, so volume wins and you pay for 2 units. At 3,000 kg, weight would win and you would pay for 3 units. A minimum charge and rounding rules can raise small lots. Confirm both in the quote.
None of the current indexes this site cites prices LCL from China to Germany. The table below is historical. It shows the early-2026 range for China to Europe from FreightAmigo's guide, updated July 23, 2026. Our LCL shipping rates guide lists the same range.
Historical LCL Base Freight: Early 2026 (Q1–Q2)
| Route | Base freight reference | Period |
|---|---|---|
| China → Europe | USD 70–150/CBM | Early 2026 (Q1–Q2) |
Source: FreightAmigo LCL guide, updated July 23, 2026. Base port-to-port freight only. CFS fees at both ends, customs services, delivery and taxes are extra. The provider does not publish its sample or its observation dates.
Air Freight: Price per Chargeable Kg
Air cargo is billed on chargeable weight. IATA describes a common method: multiply length, width and height in centimetres, then divide by 6,000. Compare the result with the gross weight and bill the higher figure. Some services use another divisor; DHL Express, for example, publishes 5,000.
Take 10 cartons of 80 × 60 × 50 cm with a gross weight of 300 kg. Each carton is 240,000 cm³, so the total is 2,400,000 cm³. Divided by 6,000, that gives 400 kg. Volume wins, so the chargeable weight is 400 kg.
Freightos reported USD 4.88/kg from the Far East to Europe for the week before its September 8, 2026 update. It is a market average, not a quote into Frankfurt. Ask about the minimum charge, fuel and security lines, and what the rate covers.
Costs at Destination
These costs arise in Germany, after the ship or plane arrives. Some are official taxes with a legal rate. Others are service fees set by terminals, brokers and hauliers. The table shows what is published and what must come from the quote.
| Charge | Published amount or rule | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer, EUSt) | 19% standard rate; 7% reduced rate for listed goods | UStG §12, checked Sep 23, 2026 |
| Tax base for import VAT | Customs value, plus duty and transport costs to the first destination in the EU | UStG §11 and German Customs, checked Sep 23, 2026 |
| Customs duty | Set per goods code and origin; no single rate | EU TARIC database, checked Sep 23, 2026 |
| EORI number | Needed by an EU importer for customs operations | European Commission, checked Sep 23, 2026 |
| Terminal handling at the German port | Confirm in the quote | Terminal or carrier tariff |
| Customs broker fee | Confirm in the quote | Broker's written offer |
| Delivery from Hamburg or Bremerhaven | Confirm in the quote | Truck or rail offer |
German Customs collects import VAT together with duty when goods enter from outside the EU. A business that imports goods for its own trade can generally deduct it as input tax under UStG §15. Check your case with a tax adviser. Until the deduction arrives, the payment still affects your cash flow.
Duties and Tariffs
The EU sets customs duty for all its member states, so Germany applies the EU rate. Look up your goods code with China as origin in the TARIC database. It lists the duty and any extra measures for that code.
Some Chinese products face anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties. These are set per product and sometimes per maker. TARIC shows them when you enter the origin. This page gives no product rate.
The code decides the duty, so get it right before you ship. A licensed customs broker in Germany can check the code, the duty and the import VAT for your goods.
Transit Time: What the Schedule Covers
This page does not publish a transit time for China to Germany. Sailing time comes from the carrier's current schedule for a named service. It changes with the routing, such as a passage through Suez or around the Cape of Good Hope. Our Red Sea route guide lists what to check.
Ask for the port-to-port days, the transfer ports and the cutoff. Then add the stages that a sailing time leaves out.
| Stage | Included in the sailing time? |
|---|---|
| Pickup and export customs in China | No |
| LCL consolidation at the origin warehouse | No |
| Waiting for the cutoff and loading | No |
| Sea voyage, port to port | Yes |
| Transfer at another port | Check the schedule |
| Unloading and release at Hamburg or Bremerhaven | No |
| Customs clearance and import VAT payment | No |
| Delivery to your address | No |
What Changes the Price
- Season and carrier notices — Carriers announce rate increases and surcharges by notice. Check the amounts and dates in each quote.
- Routing — A longer route ties up ships for longer. That can raise costs, but there is no fixed amount per lane. The Red Sea route guide explains the checks.
- Emissions charges — EU rules on shipping emissions cover voyages to the EU. Ask whether the quote has an emissions line and how it is worked out.
- Density and W/M — Light, bulky cargo is billed by volume. Heavy, compact cargo is billed by weight.
- Batteries and dangerous goods — They need extra checks. Some services add a charge, and some do not accept them.
- Incoterm — The term agreed with your supplier decides who pays each stage. Compare quotes with the same scope.
- Delivery inside Germany — Truck or rail from the port adds cost by distance, weight and waiting time.
- Currency and free time — Freight is often in USD and local fees in EUR, so note the exchange rate and date. Storage starts when free time ends.
Worked Budget Example
This is an illustration, not a quote. It shows how to combine the dated references with the lines a quote must add.
- Choose the equipment: Your cargo is 57 CBM. That is below the 67.7 m³ Maersk lists for a 40ft dry container. Check the real load plan, and price a 40ft High Cube as well.
- Check the scale: Drewry assessed Shanghai–Rotterdam at US$3,997 per 40ft on September 10, 2026. Use it only to judge scale. Your Hamburg quote replaces it.
- Add what the benchmark leaves out: Add pickup, export customs, terminal fees in Germany, the broker fee and delivery. Take each amount from the written quote.
- Work out the import VAT: Add the customs value, the duty and the transport cost to the first EU destination. Multiply by 19%. For every EUR 10,000 of tax base, import VAT is EUR 1,900.
- Compare LCL for a small lot: A 2 CBM, 800 kg lot bills as 2 W/M units. At the historical early-2026 range of USD 70–150/CBM, base freight was USD 140–300. Fees and taxes come on top.
- Compare air for urgent cargo: At the Freightos average of USD 4.88/kg, 400 kg chargeable gives USD 1,952 of freight. Minimums, fees and taxes come on top.
What to Send for a Quote
- Pickup city in China and delivery city in Germany, or the ports, such as Shanghai and Hamburg.
- Number of packages, packed size and gross weight. The CBM calculator works out the volume.
- What the goods are, with the goods code if you have it.
- Cargo-ready date and the Incoterm agreed with your supplier.
- Door to door or port to port, and whether you need customs clearance in Germany.
- Any batteries, dangerous goods or temperature needs.
- Whether your company already has an EORI number.
- For a first estimate by mode, try the freight calculator.
Questions About Shipping Costs from China to Germany
Sources and References
- Drewry — World Container Index, September 10, 2026 — Shanghai–Rotterdam 40ft assessment, used here as the North Europe reference. Figure as published in our FCL rates guide, checked September 12, 2026.
- Drewry — WCI methodology and included charges — Container-yard-to-container-yard scope and exclusions. Checked September 12, 2026.
- Freightos — update of September 8, 2026 — Air cargo, Far East to Europe, USD 4.88/kg for the week before the update. Checked September 23, 2026.
- FreightAmigo — LCL guide, updated July 23, 2026 — Historical early-2026 base freight ranges, before local charges. Checked September 23, 2026.
- Hapag-Lloyd — Far East to North Europe price announcement — Historical FAK prices for sailings from May 15, 2026, excluding the UK. As shown in our ocean freight rates guide, checked September 12, 2026.
- Maersk — container volume and weight limits — Dry-container volume examples, not a loading plan. Checked September 12, 2026.
- IATA — Air Cargo Tariffs and Rules — Chargeable weight concepts; not a current tariff.
- DHL Express — Weight and Dimensions — Service-specific divisor of 5,000; not a universal air cargo rule.
- German Federal Ministry of Justice — UStG §12, tax rates — 19% standard rate and 7% reduced rate. Checked September 23, 2026.
- German Federal Ministry of Justice — UStG §11, tax base on import — Customs value plus duties and transport to the first destination in the EU. Checked September 23, 2026.
- German Federal Ministry of Justice — UStG §15, input tax — Deduction of import VAT on goods imported for a business. Checked September 23, 2026.
- German Customs (Zoll) — import VAT tax base — Items added to the customs value. Checked September 23, 2026.
- German Customs (Zoll) — import VAT overview — Import VAT is collected by customs on goods from outside the EU. Checked September 23, 2026.
- European Commission — TARIC consultation — Duty and trade measures by goods code and origin. Checked September 23, 2026.
- European Commission — EORI number — Identification for economic operators in EU customs operations. Checked September 23, 2026.
- European Commission — maritime EU ETS — Scope of the EU emissions trading system for shipping.
