DCP (dicalcium phosphate) from China to Saudi Arabia: landed cost
Short answer: DCP from China into Saudi Arabia moves in containers, so landed cost is driven by container freight, bagged handling and heavy-metal and grade documentation rather than bulk parcel economics. Price on landed cost per unit of available phosphorus, not per tonne of product.
DCP is a mineral feed phosphate bought on P and Ca content, not on tonnage alone. Chinese suppliers quote several grades — feed-grade DCP 18% P, DCP 16–17%, and MCP — and two offers that look identical per tonne can differ materially per unit of phosphorus. On this lane cargo is almost always bagged in 25 kg or jumbo bags inside 20 ft containers, which caps weight per box and puts detention and destination handling in the cost picture.
Qingdao / Shanghai / Fangcheng
Jeddah / Dammam
Typically 20–28 days from North China to Jeddah, shorter from South China to Dammam via the Gulf; add origin container availability and rollover risk on peak sailings.
20 ft containers, typically 25–27 t per box in 25 kg bags or jumbo bags.
Worked landed cost: China → Saudi Arabia
Every figure below is an illustrative planning input, not a live rate or an offer. Overwrite each one with your own supplier quotation, forwarder rate, tariff line and bank cost — the table recalculates as you type, in your browser only.
| Cost line | Your figure | Where the real number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier quotation — From the supplier's written offer, on a stated moisture and specification basis. | ||
| Supplier quotation — Contract quantity, before any weight-franchise tolerance. | ||
| Freight forwarder quotation — Quote for the specific load port, discharge port and cargo form (bulk or containerised). | ||
| Your bank or insurer — Your marine cargo policy rate; higher for bagged and transhipped cargo. | ||
| Customs tariff / broker — Confirm against your own tariff schedule and HS classification, including any preferential rate. | ||
| Customs tariff / broker — Some destinations zero-rate feed raw materials; verify before assuming. | ||
| Port / terminal tariff — Stevedoring, THC, sampling and laboratory, agency and broker fees for the whole shipment. | ||
| Freight forwarder quotation — Port-to-mill trucking or rail at your actual distance. | ||
| Your bank or insurer — Issuance, confirmation and tenor cost from your bank. | ||
| Port / terminal tariff — Handling and moisture loss between bill of lading weight and mill intake weight. |
Cost build-up
| Component | Shipment total | Per tonne |
|---|---|---|
| Goods (FOB) | USD 270,000 | USD 540.00 |
| Ocean freight | USD 39,000 | USD 78.00 |
| Marine insurance | USD 927 | USD 1.85 |
| Import duty | USD 0 | USD 0.00 |
| VAT / GST | USD 46,489 | USD 92.98 |
| Port, discharge & clearance | USD 9,500 | USD 19.00 |
| Inland to mill | USD 9,000 | USD 18.00 |
| LC / trade finance | USD 4,339 | USD 8.68 |
| CIF at discharge port | USD 309,927 | USD 619.85 |
| Landed at mill (over 498.5 t net of loss) | USD 379,255 | USD 760.79 |
Landed cost is 40.9% above the FOB price you entered. That gap — not the FOB headline — is what makes two offers on different Incoterms comparable.
Requirement summary
- Ingredient
- DCP (dicalcium phosphate)
- Lane
- China → Saudi Arabia
- Quantity
- 500 t
- FOB entered
- USD 540.00 / t
- Duty / VAT entered
- 0% / 15%
- Loss allowance
- 0.3%
Calculated outputs
- CIF per tonne
- USD 619.85 / t
- Landed per tonne at mill
- USD 760.79 / t
- Shipment landed value
- USD 379,255
- Premium over FOB
- 40.9%
How it was calculated
Landed = (unit price × quantity) + freight + insurance + port/inspection/testing + (dutiable base × duty %) + taxes + demurrage + inland + finance cost, divided by delivered tonnes net of the loss/shrinkage % you enter. Where a nutrient basis matters, cost per usable dry-matter tonne = landed per tonne ÷ dry-matter fraction.
Model landed-cost · version 2.0.0 · last reviewed 2026-08-21 · full methodology
Data sources
- Your supplier's written quotation (price, specification, Incoterm)
- Your freight forwarder (ocean and inland rates for this exact port pair)
- Your customs broker and the destination tariff schedule (duty, VAT, HS classification)
- Your bank (LC cost, FX rate and rate date)
- Values you entered are treated as buyer input; pre-filled ingredient composition is generic reference data, not a supply guarantee, and should be replaced with your supplier specification or laboratory result.
Key assumptions
- Dry-matter correction only applies where you enter a moisture figure; do not compare an as-fed price with a dry-matter price.
- Every cost line is user-entered. No freight rate, duty rate, tax rate or exchange rate is fabricated or auto-filled from a market feed.
- Tariff classification and duty rates must be confirmed against your own customs tariff and HS classification.
Warnings and limitations
- The pre-filled figures on this page are illustrative planning values compiled from FeedMatch quotation work. They are not live market rates, not offers, and will not match your shipment.
- Duty, VAT and admissibility for dcp (dicalcium phosphate) into Saudi Arabia change over time — confirm the current position before contracting.
- Excluded by default: demurrage beyond what you enter, storage after delivery, quality-claim outcomes, currency hedging cost.
Planning and procurement estimate only. Final formulations, ingredient inclusion, nutrient targets, feed safety, additive use and regulatory compliance must be approved by appropriately qualified professionals and the responsible manufacturer.
Next procurement step
Have the values above reviewed by the responsible professionals, then carry the approved figures into a request for quotation. Nothing is sent until you review and submit it yourself.
Request comparable offers for China → Saudi ArabiaIncoterm and freight basis
| Term | Who pays what | Where risk passes | Use when |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOB China port | Buyer books the container freight | On loading at origin | You have a GCC freight contract and want to control rollovers and carrier choice. |
| CFR / CIF Jeddah or Dammam | Seller books freight (and insurance under CIF) | At origin loading | Standard for smaller mineral lots; verify free detention days at destination in writing. |
| DAP warehouse | Seller to your named place, import clearance still yours unless DDP | On arrival at the named place | Small trial lots where the total is small enough that convenience beats cost transparency. |
On containerised lanes the hidden cost is detention and demurrage on the boxes, not the freight rate. Fix the number of free days at destination in the contract; 7 free days versus 14 can be worth more per tonne than the price difference you negotiated.
Documents required on China → Saudi Arabia
Typical HS heading: 2835.25 / 2835.26. Calcium hydrogenorthophosphate (dicalcium phosphate) and other calcium phosphates. GCC feed raw materials are commonly zero-rated for duty but still carry VAT; confirm both the duty line and the VAT treatment for feed material with your Saudi broker.
| Document | Issued by | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial invoice and packing list | Supplier | Customs valuation and the Saudi import declaration. |
| Bill of lading | Carrier | Title and container release. |
| Certificate of origin (attested where required) | CCPIT / chamber | Saudi clearance regularly requires an attested origin document. |
| Certificate of analysis: total P, available P, Ca, fluorine, heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd, Hg) | Supplier / independent lab | The commercial and regulatory core of a mineral feed phosphate purchase. |
| Feed-grade and free-sale declaration | Supplier / origin authority | Demonstrates the material is intended and permitted for animal feed use. |
| SABER / SFDA product registration where applicable | Saudi conformity platform | Feed material import into Saudi Arabia routinely requires prior registration and a conformity certificate. |
| Halal or non-animal-origin declaration | Supplier | Requested for feed materials entering GCC markets; mineral origin should be stated explicitly. |
| Insurance certificate (CIF) | Insurer | Bag damage and water ingress are the common container claims on this lane. |
Check at discharge
- Available phosphorus, not just total P — the difference between grades is exactly where value is won or lost.
- Calcium-to-phosphorus ratio against the specification you formulated on.
- Fluorine content, which is the standard regulatory limit on feed phosphates.
- Heavy metals — arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury — against your acceptance limits and the destination regulation.
- Particle size, flowability and bag condition; caked bags after a hot-voyage container are a real dosing problem at the micro-dosing station.
What goes wrong on this lane
- Grade substitution: a 16% P product invoiced against an 18% P contract.
- Container detention at destination once clearance runs long.
- SABER/registration not in place before arrival, which strands the containers.
- Chinese New Year and fertiliser-season production stoppages hitting an agreed laycan.
Seasonality: Chinese phosphate availability tightens around domestic fertiliser season and Chinese New Year, when both production and container bookings are disrupted for several weeks.
Request comparable offers on this lane
The request opens prefilled with the dcp (dicalcium phosphate) specification lines above, the China → Saudi Arabia routing, and your current quantity and modelled landed cost, so every supplier quotes on one basis. Sourcing is free for buyers; suppliers compensate FeedMatch.
Related pages
Other trade lanes
FAQ
What is the landed cost of dcp (dicalcium phosphate) from China to Saudi Arabia?
DCP from China into Saudi Arabia moves in containers, so landed cost is driven by container freight, bagged handling and heavy-metal and grade documentation rather than bulk parcel economics. Price on landed cost per unit of available phosphorus, not per tonne of product. Use the worked table on this page with your own supplier, forwarder, broker and bank figures — the illustrative values shown are planning inputs, not live rates or offers.
Which Incoterm should I buy dcp (dicalcium phosphate) on for this lane?
On containerised lanes the hidden cost is detention and demurrage on the boxes, not the freight rate. Fix the number of free days at destination in the contract; 7 free days versus 14 can be worth more per tonne than the price difference you negotiated.
What documents are required to import dcp (dicalcium phosphate) into Saudi Arabia?
Commercial invoice and packing list; Bill of lading; Certificate of origin (attested where required); Certificate of analysis: total P, available P, Ca, fluorine, heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd, Hg); Feed-grade and free-sale declaration; SABER / SFDA product registration where applicable; Halal or non-animal-origin declaration; Insurance certificate (CIF). Typical HS heading 2835.25 / 2835.26. Calcium hydrogenorthophosphate (dicalcium phosphate) and other calcium phosphates. GCC feed raw materials are commonly zero-rated for duty but still carry VAT; confirm both the duty line and the VAT treatment for feed material with your Saudi broker.
How long does shipment take from China to Saudi Arabia?
Typically 20–28 days from North China to Jeddah, shorter from South China to Dammam via the Gulf; add origin container availability and rollover risk on peak sailings.
What should I check when the cargo arrives?
Available phosphorus, not just total P — the difference between grades is exactly where value is won or lost. Calcium-to-phosphorus ratio against the specification you formulated on. Fluorine content, which is the standard regulatory limit on feed phosphates. Heavy metals — arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury — against your acceptance limits and the destination regulation. Particle size, flowability and bag condition; caked bags after a hot-voyage container are a real dosing problem at the micro-dosing station.