Ship container to Europe
How much does it cost to ship a container to or from Europe?
Exporting to Europe:
GETTING STARTED
Shipping containers to Europe
If you are thinking of shipping a container of goods to Europe via ocean freight, iContainers offers you two options: full (FCL) or shared (LCL or also known as groupage) containers. Get a quote for shipping containers to Europe via our online platform. Compare the most competitive rates, book and track your shipment with complete transparency.
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Ship containers to EstoniaThe most popular routes for sending containers to Europe
If you would like to know more about the shipping routes that carry goods to Europe, keep on reading. There are various popular routes for sending containers by number of TEUs to or from Europe. The most used is the one that links Asia with Northern Europe from the west:
Top trade routes from / to Europe (TEU shipped) 2013
| Route | West Bound | East Bound | North Bound | South Bound | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia - North Europe | 9,187,000 | 4,519,000 | - | - | 13,706,000 |
| Asia - Mediterranean | 4,678,000 | 2,061,000 | - | - | 6,739,000 |
| North Europe - North America | 2,636,000 | 2,074,000 | - | - | 4,710,000 |
| North Europe/Mediterranean-East Coast South America | - | - | 795,000 | 885,000 | 1,680,000 |
Source: Trade Routes – World Shipping Council
Numerous shipping lines operate on these routes. Of them, the most used route to Europe is the Far East – Mediterranean, which has 31 services:
| ROUTE | SERVICES |
|---|---|
| North Europe - Far East | 28 |
| Far East - Mediterranean | 31 |
| North Europe - North America | 23 |
| Mediterranean - North America | 21 |
| Europe - Mid- East/ South Asia | 40 |
| Total | 143 |
Note:Some services might have been counted for more than one route.
Source: Drewry Container Forecaster Q1 & Q2 2013
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Which European ports are specialised in containers?
Of the 100 most important ports for handling containers, 15 are located in Europe:
EUROPEAN PORT RANKINGS - CONTAINER TRAFFIC - 2014
| WORLD RANK | PORT | COUNTRY | TEUs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 12.453 |
| 15 | Hamburg | Germany | 9.729 |
| 16 | Antwerp | Belgium | 9.136 |
| 23 | Bremen Ports | Germany | 5.796 |
| 31 | Algeciras - La Linea | Spain | 4.457 |
| 32 | Valencia | Spain | 4.442 |
| 38 | Felixstowe | UK | 3.680 |
| 46 | Gioia Tauro | Italy | 3.062 |
| 51 | Marsaxlokk | Malta | 2.869 |
| 58 | Le Havre | France | 2.554 |
| 72 | Genoa | Italy | 2.173 |
| 79 | Barcelona | Spain | 1.894 |
| 81 | Southampton | United Kingdom | 1.662 |
| 95 | La Spezia | Italy | 1.301 |
| 99 | Gdansk | Poland | 1.212 |
Source: Top 100 ports in the world 2014 - World Shipping Council
Necessary documentation for sending containers to Europe
In this guide for the procedure and exportation documents (website in Spanish), created by the Information Services Department at ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, you can check everything you need to do to send a container to Europe. For more information, do not hesitate to contact our exportation experts at iContainers.
Selecting the Incoterm that you are going to use when sending your goods to Europe is one of the most important steps.