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.
Middle East
Shipping Containers to the UAE
Supply from European depots to Jebel Ali and Khalifa Port, with free zone consignees and high ambient temperature the two things to get right.
- New & used
- Single & bulk orders
- Named destination port
- Delivered pricing
The UAE is a re-export hub as much as an end market, and enquiries reflect both roles: units for local construction, industrial and storage use, and lots bought for onward trade into the wider region.
Two specifics shape a UAE quotation. Free zone consignees are handled differently from direct imports, and sustained high ambient temperature changes what specification is worth paying for.
Free zone or mainland consignee
Say which at RFQ stage. Goods entering a free zone are treated differently from a direct import, and it affects documentation and the point at which duty applies. It does not change the container — it changes the paperwork, and getting the paperwork wrong is the expensive part.
Specifying for the climate
For occupied units or temperature-sensitive contents, insulation and ventilation are functional requirements, not upgrades. For everything else, an intact coating system is worth more here than its cosmetic value suggests — which is part of why one-trip units are proportionally more popular in this market than in Europe.
If the requirement is genuinely cold storage, start from an insulated reefer shell rather than insulating a dry box.
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 United Arab Emirates
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- Jebel Ali
- Khalifa Port
- Sharjah
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
Can you deliver containers to Jebel Ali?
We quote to Jebel Ali as a named destination port on agreed Incoterms. Charges after discharge, clearance and inland movement sit with the buyer unless expressly quoted.
Does a free zone consignee change the quotation?
It changes the documentation and the duty position rather than the container price, but it needs to be known in advance. State it on the RFQ.