Incoterms for industrial equipment imports
Who pays, who carries the risk, and where the price really ends.
Which Incoterms are common for machinery?
- EXW — buyer handles everything from the supplier's premises
- FCA / FOB — seller delivers to the carrier or on board at origin
- CIF / CIP — seller pays main freight and insurance; risk passes at origin
- DAP — seller delivers to your site, not unloaded, duties excluded
- DDP — seller also pays import duties and taxes
How do you choose the right term?
Choose based on who can manage freight, insurance and customs more reliably. Oversized or fragile equipment often benefits from one party controlling the full route. Whatever you choose, apply it to every supplier.
How do you estimate landed cost?
Landed cost = equipment price + packing + inland and main freight + insurance + import duties and taxes + port and clearance fees + inland delivery to site. Duty rates depend on the tariff code and destination — confirm them with a customs broker.
Packaging lines, production lines and calculators
Global B2B Group's main line is packaging and production lines — for fish, shrimp, greenhouse produce and other agri-food products — plus custom machinery, for projects from USD 250,000 with human review before any supplier outreach.
Packaging and production-line guides
- How to compare food packaging line proposals
- Food processing line planning: hygiene, capacity, packaging
- Packaging automation ROI
- Fish & shrimp packaging line profile
- Special-purpose and custom machinery
- Industrial machinery and production lines
Estimate before you send an RFQ
Sector projects go to our specialist platforms
Sector projects such as cold rooms, hatcheries, fish farms, greenhouses or feed mills go to the matching specialist platform. Packaging lines, custom machinery, multi-sector projects, CAPEX planning and financing preparation stay with Global B2B Group, so each buyer has one route and the platforms never compete.
- ColdMatch Group — Cold storage, refrigeration and cold-chain infrastructure
- HatchMatch Group — Poultry farms, hatcheries and poultry infrastructure
- FishMatch Group — Fish farming, shrimp farming and aquaculture systems
- SeedMatch Group — Greenhouses, irrigation, protected agriculture and seed
- FeedMatch Group — Animal feed, ingredients and feed mills
Quick questions
Is CIF the same as delivered?+
No. Under CIF the seller pays freight and insurance, but risk passes to the buyer once goods are loaded at origin.
Does DAP include import duties?+
No. Under DAP the buyer pays import duties and taxes; under DDP the seller pays them.
Should the RFQ state the Incoterm?+
Yes. State the Incoterm and named place so quotations are comparable.
Which Incoterms details matter for a packaging line import?+
Lines often ship in several crates and containers. Confirm the named place, who unloads and positions machines, insurance until delivery, and whether installation is in scope — then add duties and local transport to the CAPEX comparison.
Summary
- Incoterms set where cost and risk move to the buyer
- Ask all suppliers to quote on the same term and place
- Compare offers on estimated landed cost, not ex-works price
Global B2B Group is an independent, human-reviewed procurement channel — not a manufacturer, contractor or lender. Figures and methods here are general guidance; confirm project-specific details with qualified advisers.
Continue with our commercial resources
Hand-picked next steps for this topic — special purpose machinery and industrial project financing.