20ft Shipping Container
Approx. 33.2 m³
The standard 6.06 m ISO dry container: 33.2 m³ of volume, up to 28 t of payload, and the easiest size to move by road almost anywhere in the world.
Africa
Shipping Containers to Nigeria
Supply from European depots to Lagos, Tin Can Island and the eastern ports, quoted on Incoterms to a named terminal.
- New & used
- Single & bulk orders
- Named destination port
- Delivered pricing
Nigeria is the largest single container market in West Africa and the enquiries reflect it: trading lots, construction and site equipment, conversion stock, and containers bought as freight equipment for shipper-owned loads.
The one thing that most affects how useful a quotation is here is naming the terminal. Lagos alone is ambiguous — Apapa and Tin Can Island are different terminals with different handling realities, and Onne and Port Harcourt serve a different part of the country entirely.
Name the terminal, not just the city
A quotation to "Lagos" is a guess. A quotation to Tin Can Island or Apapa is a price. If the final destination is inland, say where — the inland leg is usually the buyer's responsibility, but it affects which discharge port makes sense.
Import documentation and inspection
Nigerian import procedure involves documentation beyond the shipping paperwork, and requirements change from time to time. Your clearing agent is the authority on what is currently needed; our part is to ensure anything that must be arranged on the export side exists before the vessel sails.
Tell us at RFQ stage what your agent requires. Certificates that must pre-date shipment cannot be created afterwards.
Buying lots
Multi-unit purchases are the normal shape of this trade. State the quantity, the acceptable grades and whether appearance uniformity matters — a mixed lot of sound used units is meaningfully cheaper than a matched set, and for a dealer reselling into the local market the mixed lot is often the better buy.
How supply and shipment are put together
Overseas supply separates into two questions that are often confused: which container you are buying, and how it reaches the destination you named.
Destination
You name the discharge port or the inland destination, and the specification.
Supply option
Suitable availability is assessed against that destination and against what can actually be booked to it, which is not always the nearest source of stock.
Shipment
Ocean freight on agreed Incoterms, with the responsibilities on each side written down before anything moves.
Quotation
Container, origin handling and freight to the agreed point, with destination charges identified rather than buried.
Buying a container and shipping cargo in it are two different transactions
A container bought as equipment and a container booked as freight are not the same movement, and conflating them is where overseas enquiries usually go wrong. Tell us which one you need. If the unit is to carry your cargo on the same voyage, that changes the condition requirement, the CSC position and the booking — and it is far cheaper to establish before the quotation than after it.
Containers supplied to Nigeria
Specialist types
New or used
Both are supplied to every market we quote. The choice is about what the container has to do once it arrives.
New / one trip
- Appearance matters at the destination
- Long-term ownership is intended
- The unit will be converted or modified
- Recent production is preferred
Used
- Storage is the primary purpose
- Budget is the deciding factor
- Cosmetic condition is secondary
- Cargo worthy or wind and watertight meets the requirement
What decides an overseas quotation
Four variables carry most of the cost and nearly all of the risk of a surprise.
Discharge port
The named destination port, which determines the routing, the sailing options and a large part of the freight cost.
Incoterm
Where our responsibility ends and yours begins. This decides who pays destination handling, and it is worth agreeing explicitly.
Destination charges
Terminal handling, documentation and any local charges at discharge. We identify them rather than leaving them to arrive later.
Inland leg
Delivery beyond the port is a separate arrangement in most markets, and is quoted as such where it can be arranged at all.
Destination ports
Ports commonly named on enquiries for this market. Naming the discharge port is the single most useful thing on an overseas enquiry: a quotation to a country is guesswork, a quotation to a terminal is a price.
Port delivery options- Apapa (Lagos)
- Tin Can Island
- Onne
- Port Harcourt
What we need in order to quote
Five things. A named destination port is worth more than any other single line on an overseas enquiry.
Container
Quantity
Destination
Terms
Commercial
Frequently asked questions
Which Nigerian port should I use?
That depends on your final destination and your agent. Apapa and Tin Can Island serve Lagos and the southwest; Onne and Port Harcourt serve the southeast and the oil and gas region. Name the one you want on the RFQ.
Do you handle customs clearance in Nigeria?
No. Clearance at destination is handled by your own agent. We quote the supply and the carriage on agreed Incoterms and state clearly where our responsibility ends.