The signal in one sentence
The rate card provides a current benchmark for tea, packaging and finished-product movements, but it is not a door-to-door landed cost. The advisory lists ocean freight from defined base ports and states that surcharges and local charges at both ends can apply. Destination, equipment, booking date and cargo acceptance also matter.
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KEY SIGNAL
Validity: 1–14 September 2026
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KEY SIGNAL
West Africa base: $3,750/$5,100
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KEY SIGNAL
Mombasa: $4,750/$6,050
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The commercial interpretation
The spread is operationally significant: South Africa was listed at $4,800/$5,800, Mozambique at $5,850/$7,550 and Port Louis at $4,750/$5,650 for 20-foot/40-foot equipment. Container choice should be based on payload, cube, moisture protection and inventory needs, not only the lower unit freight of a larger box.
A letter to tea buyers
West African tea buyers should use the published base rate as one line in a landed-cost worksheet. Ask the forwarder for every origin, carrier and destination charge, and state whether the offer can be revised if the container sails outside the two-week validity window.
Before the next order
Keep watching
A buyer inserts $5,100 as the full cost of a 40-foot West Africa shipment. The forwarder then adds origin handling, documentation and destination charges. A revised worksheet separates each line and assigns responsibility under the chosen Incoterm before the purchase order is signed.
