Tools
Buyer tools
FOB, CFR or CIF — the landed cost.
An FOB Lagos price and a CIF price from another origin are not comparable figures. This builds one into the other, so you are comparing the number that actually leaves your account.
Lagos to your discharge port, including surcharges.
Charged on the insured value, which is the CIF value plus 10%.
Set by your own customs administration, not by the Incoterm.
- FOB Lagos / MT
- —
- CFR / MT
- —
- CIF / MT
- —
- Landed / MT
- —
| Goods, FOB Lagos — 4 × 40ft | — |
| Ocean freight | — |
| CFR value | — |
| Marine insurance premium | — |
| CIF value | — |
| Import duty on the CIF value | — |
| Destination charges | — |
| Landed cost | — |
The last container is 4 MT short of full, and it is paid for in full.
Risk transfers when the goods are on board at Lagos under all three terms. CFR and CIF move who pays for the voyage; they do not move who carries it. So the three columns above differ in cost and in nothing else — which is the reason an FOB number from one origin and a CIF number from another are not comparable figures until you have done this arithmetic.
Freight, insurance, duty and terminal charges are yours to supply because they are route- and date-specific. We publish no rates here and none are assumed.
Who pays, and who carries
| Term | Ocean freight | Marine insurance | Risk transfers |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOB Lagos | Buyer | Buyer | On board at Lagos |
| CFR | Seller | Buyer | On board at Lagos |
| CIF | Seller | Seller, at minimum cover | On board at Lagos |
The last column is the same on every row, and that is the point of the table. Moving from FOB to CIF moves cost, not risk. If a CIF container is lost or wetted in the Atlantic the goods were at your risk when it happened, and your recovery runs through the policy rather than back up the contract to the seller. The full guide
Frequently asked
What is the difference between FOB, CFR and CIF?
All three deliver the goods on board at the port of shipment. FOB stops there: the buyer books the vessel and pays freight and insurance. CFR adds ocean freight to the seller's account. CIF adds freight and a marine insurance policy. What none of them change is where risk transfers — under all three it passes when the goods are on board at Lagos, so under CFR and CIF the seller is paying for a voyage the buyer is carrying the risk on.
How do I compare an FOB price with a CIF price?
You cannot compare them directly, because they cover different things. Build both up to the same point: take the FOB price per tonne, add ocean freight, add the marine premium, then add import duty and destination charges to reach a landed cost per tonne. Only landed cost against landed cost is a comparison. An FOB number from one origin set beside a CIF number from another is the most common way buyers talk themselves into the more expensive offer.
What is not included in an FOB Lagos price?
Ocean freight from Lagos, marine cargo insurance, destination terminal handling, import duty and clearance, and inland haulage to your door. Demurrage and detention if the container sits, and any bunker or congestion surcharge the carrier applies, sit on top of that.
How is marine insurance calculated on a CIF shipment?
On the insured value, which is customarily the invoice value plus ten per cent in the currency of the contract. Under CIF the invoice value is the CIF value, so the premium and the CIF value each depend on the other and have to be solved together rather than charging the rate against the CFR figure. The calculator above does that. Note also that CIF obliges the seller to insure only at the minimum, restricted level of cover — not all-risks. Incoterms 2020 raised CIP to the comprehensive level and deliberately left CIF where it was.
Is import duty charged on the FOB or the CIF value?
That is set by your own customs administration, not by the Incoterm, and it differs between countries. Most assess duty on the CIF value; some assess on the FOB value. Because the basis changes the duty on the same shipment, the calculator makes it a choice rather than an assumption. Check your own tariff schedule for the line you import under.
Should I buy sesame FOB or CIF on a first shipment?
FOB, on a first trade with a new counterparty. It keeps the two relationships separate — the seed is the seller's performance and the voyage is your carrier's, so neither can be used to explain away a failure in the other — and it lets you insure the cargo at the level you actually want rather than the minimum a CIF seller owes. Ask for CFR or CIF when you have no freight desk, when the seller's volume beats the rates you can source, or when your approval process needs one landed number.
What this tool does not do
It publishes no freight rate, no insurance rate, no duty rate and no terminal tariff. Those are route-, carrier- and date-specific, they are not ours to state, and a plausible default would be read as our figure. Every cost field starts empty and takes your own numbers. The container loadings are the only values supplied, and they come from the same published grade specifications as the rest of the site.
Sourcing sesame for the 2026/27 season?
New-crop arrivals begin in late November. Forward bookings open from August. Send us your specification and destination, and you will have a formal quotation within 48 hours.