Shipping
Logistics, Ports & Incoterms
How East African pulse cargo moves from the producing districts to a vessel: inland corridors, load ports, container planning, Incoterms in commercial practice and the documents that travel with the shipment.
- Load ports
- Dar es Salaam · Mombasa · Beira · Nacala · Djibouti
- Terms
- FCA · FOB · CFR · CIF
- Unit
- 20' GP, weight-limited
East African pulse logistics divides cleanly into two cases. Coastal origins — Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique — truck cargo from the producing districts to a port in the same country, and the main variables are inland distance, road weight limits and equipment availability. Landlocked origins — Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia — move cargo along a corridor across at least one border, which adds transit documentation, border time and a meaningful share of the delivered cost.
That difference is why Tanzania has an inherent advantage for buyers in South Asia and the Gulf: volume, an established export trade and a deep-water port on the Indian Ocean, without the cargo crossing a border. It is also why an offer from a landlocked origin needs its freight built in from the outset rather than bolted on afterwards.
Bagged pulses are dense enough that a container reaches its weight limit long before it runs out of space, which is why almost all of this cargo moves in 20 ft units. A 40 ft box would be half empty at the same weight.
Incoterms
Terms used in the pulses trade
- FCAFree Carrier
- The seller delivers the goods, cleared for export, to the carrier or another party nominated by the buyer at the named place. Used where the buyer controls the main carriage and wants to take delivery at the loading point or an inland terminal.
- FOBFree On Board
- The seller delivers on board the vessel nominated by the buyer at the named port of shipment. Widely used in the pulses trade where the buyer or its agent books the ocean freight.
- CFRCost and Freight
- The seller contracts and pays for carriage to the named destination port. Risk transfers on board at the load port; insurance is the buyer's responsibility.
- CIFCost, Insurance and Freight
- As CFR, with the seller additionally contracting minimum marine insurance cover to the named destination port. Frequently used where the buyer prefers a single landed figure.
The descriptions above summarise how these terms are used commercially in the pulses trade. They are not legal advice and are not a substitute for the current Incoterms® rules text. The obligations, costs and risk transfer that apply to a contract are those set out in the rules edition the contract incorporates, and should be confirmed with your own advisers. Logistics and routing.
Routing
Ports and corridors by origin
| Origin | Load ports | Inland corridors |
|---|---|---|
| Tanzania | Dar es Salaam · Mtwara · Tanga | Central Corridor · Northern route · Southern route |
| Uganda | Mombasa (Kenya) · Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) | Northern Corridor · Central Corridor |
| Kenya | Mombasa | Direct to port |
| Rwanda | Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) · Mombasa (Kenya) | Central Corridor · Northern Corridor |
| Burundi | Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) | Central Corridor |
| Ethiopia | Djibouti (Djibouti) | Djibouti Corridor |
| Malawi | Nacala (Mozambique) · Beira (Mozambique) | Nacala Corridor · Beira Corridor |
| Mozambique | Nacala · Beira · Pemba · Maputo | Direct to port |
| Zambia | Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) · Beira (Mozambique) · Nacala (Mozambique) | Dar es Salaam Corridor · Nacala and Beira Corridors |
Documentation
Documents that travel with the shipment
| Document | Issued by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial InvoiceStandard | Exporter | States the parties, contract reference, commodity description, quantity, unit price, total value, Incoterm and payment terms. It is the primary document for customs valuation at both ends. |
| Packing ListStandard | Exporter | Details the number of bags, net and gross weight per container, packing type, marks and container and seal numbers. Must reconcile exactly with the invoice and the bill of lading. |
| Bill of LadingStandard | Carrier or its agent | Contract of carriage, receipt for the goods and document of title. Its description of the cargo, marks, weights and container numbers must match the invoice and packing list or documents will be rejected under a letter of credit. |
| Certificate of OriginStandard | Chamber of commerce or the competent authority in the exporting country | Certifies the country in which the goods were produced. Required for customs clearance in most destinations, and for preferential tariff treatment where a trade arrangement applies between the origin and the destination. |
| Phytosanitary CertificateStandard | National plant protection organisation of the exporting country | Certifies that the consignment has been inspected and is considered free from quarantine pests, and conforms to the phytosanitary import requirements of the importing country. Issued against inspection of the actual consignment, so it is arranged around the loading date. |
| Fumigation CertificateOn requirement | Licensed fumigation operator | Records the treatment applied, the product and dosage used, the exposure period and the containers or lots treated. Required by many destinations for dry pulses, and frequently a contract condition irrespective of the destination rule. |
| Weight CertificateOn requirement | Independent surveyor or licensed weighbridge | Independent record of the net and gross weight shipped. Commonly required where payment is made against shipped weight rather than contract weight. |
| Quality CertificateOn requirement | Exporter or an appointed laboratory | Records the quality parameters of the packed consignment against the contract specification — moisture, purity, foreign matter, damaged and broken grain, and size where applicable. |
| Inspection CertificateOn requirement | Third-party inspection company appointed by the buyer or agreed between the parties | Independent verification of quality, quantity and packing, and where instructed, supervision of stuffing and sealing. Issued directly by the inspection company to its instructing party. |
| Certificate of AnalysisOn requirement | Accredited laboratory | Laboratory results for the parameters a buyer nominates, which for pulses may include moisture, foreign matter, and where required, pesticide residue, aflatoxin or heavy metal screening. Scope, method and laboratory are agreed before shipment because they determine cost and lead time. |
| Non-GMO DeclarationOn requirement | Exporter | A declaration relating to the genetically modified status of the commodity. Requested by buyers in several markets, particularly in Europe. There are no commercially cultivated genetically modified varieties of the pulses listed on this site. |
| Insurance CertificateOn requirement | Insurer or broker | Evidence of marine cargo cover. Supplied by the seller under CIF and CIP terms; under FOB, CFR and FCA the buyer arranges its own cover. |
Requirements differ by commodity, origin and destination and change over time. Confirm the current position with your customs broker and the competent authority in the importing country before contracting. Nothing here states the rule in force for any route.
Questions about shipping
Which Incoterm should we contract on?
That is a commercial decision between the parties rather than a technical one. FOB is widely used in the pulses trade where the buyer or its agent books the ocean freight; CFR and CIF suit buyers who prefer a single landed figure; FCA suits buyers taking delivery at an inland point. What matters is that both sides read the same rules edition and that the contract is explicit about which one it incorporates.
Which port will my cargo load from?
It follows the origin. Tanzanian cargo loads at Dar es Salaam, with Mtwara available for southern-sourced volume. Kenyan cargo loads at Mombasa. Ugandan, Rwandan, Burundian and Zambian cargo moves by corridor to Dar es Salaam or Mombasa. Malawian and Mozambican cargo moves through Nacala or Beira. Ethiopian cargo moves to Djibouti. Not all cargo routes through all ports, and the routing is set per shipment.
What determines how much can be loaded per container?
Several ceilings apply at once and the binding one is whichever is lowest: the container's own payload limit, road weight limits on the export corridor, the carrier's limits, terminal restrictions, and road limits at the destination. On East African corridors the road limit is frequently what decides it, not the container.
How long does it take from contract to loading?
It depends on where in the season the contract falls, whether the specification requires an additional processing pass, whether inspection has been instructed and how tight equipment availability is. Peak season congestion affects trucking, cleaning capacity and container availability at the same time. A realistic loading window stated up front is worth more than an optimistic one.
Planning a shipment?
Send the origin, destination port, Incoterm, quantity and required shipment window. Where a routing or a loading window is not realistic, we will say so before the contract rather than after it.
- Origin
- Destination port
- Incoterm
- Quantity
- Shipment window