Export from Nigeria to other Countries and Make Money

Exporting from Nigeria or International transportation which involves moving goods from one country to another, can enhance or destroy the profitability of an export deal. Exporters are inevitably involved in transportation functions such as packing, shipping, and insurance.

If these functions are not handled properly, your goods can arrive too late, in poor condition, or not at all. The cost of shipping can sometimes be even more than the cost of the products.

There are commercial organizations, like customs brokers and Freight forwarders, ready and able to help you, but their charges become your costs.

List Of 30 Products You Can Export From Nigeria and Make Profits

1. Melon Seeds
2. Dried and Fresh Ginger
3. Prawns and Shrimps
4. Dried Pepper
5. Zobo leaves (Hibiscus Flower)
6. Dried and Fresh Vegetables
7. Locust beans
8. Cashew nuts
9. Garlic
10. Ogbono seeds
11. Sesame
12. Plantain
13. Dried Cocoyam
14. Pepper
15. Cocoa
16. Bitter Cola
17. Kolanut
18. Cashew Nuts
19. Groundnut
20. Edible local chalks (Nzu)
21. Cocoa
22. Tiger nuts
23. Nigerian Fabrics
24. Moringa seed
25. Shea butter
26. Charcoal
27. Banga fruits and oil
28. Dried and Roasted Ukwa (Bread fruit)
29. Cosmetics
30. Local Crafts

How To Pack Goods for International Shipment

You may not ever have to pack goods for shipment abroad if this is your first time of exporting from Nigeria. If you work as an export agent, your principal will do the packing and, if you work as an export merchant, your suppliers may perform this function.

You may, however, buy from suppliers who are unable or unwilling to pack for export. If the quantities are small, you can do the packing yourself.

Even if your principals or suppliers do the packing, you should know how they do it, and you may want to give them instructions. This is very especially when the products you are exporting from Nigeria need special handling.

If the packing is inadequate to protect the goods, your risks of loss and damage will be greatly increased, and if the packing is grossly inadequate, the insurance company may cite that as justification for not paying a claim.

At the other extreme, excessive packing will add weight and bulk to the shipment and thus increase your transportation cost. Finally, if your customer asks for a certain kind of packing and your principal or supplier does it differently, the shipment may be rejected, and you will lose your commission or markup.

Kinds of Packing for Export Products

Until a few decades ago, most products moved overseas in individual boxes or barrels. This was known as break bulk shipping.

When several boxes are put together to make one unit, perhaps with steel straps or plastic shrink-wrap, you have unitized cargo.

Because units can easily become too large and heavy to handle easily, they are often put on wooden or plastic platforms made so that forklift trucks can pick them up and place them in trailers.

These platforms are pallets, and the cargo is said to be palletized.

All the methods just described are known as less than container load, or LCL, cargo.

Using Containers to Export from Nigeria

In shipping language, a container is a large metal box that can be loaded with cargo. There are various sizes, ranging from 20 to 53 feet long. A typical 40-foot container is 8 feet wide, 8 /2 feet high, and 40 feet long and can hold about 2,347 cubic feet or 42,000 pounds of cargo.

The size of the container used to export from Nigeria is determined largely by

• the weight and size of the cargo
• the availability of containers and container-handling equipment
• maximum weight limitations on roads at the origin and destination points;
• and the ship’s configuration.

How Containers Are Transported

Containers are taken off the truck’s chassis by cranes at the port of origin and fitted like Lego bricks below and on the deck of the containership.

At the port of disembarkation, trucks pull up alongside the ship and the containers are lifted by cranes and fitted directly onto the chassis. This process is called lift-on lift-off, or LOLO. With a roll-on roll-off, or RORO, vessel, the trailers are rolled on board the ship together with the chassis, and both units are transported from the origin to the destination.

Typically, a container is cleaned and checked for soundness (no water leaks, etc.), packed, locked and sealed, and sent to its destination.

It may move by road or rail and then by ocean and is usually not opened until it reaches the importing country or sometimes even the importer’s warehouse.

There are specialized types of containers, the most common of which is the refrigerated container, or “reefer.” It is used especially for carrying fresh produce for export trade.

Exporting from Nigeria with less than container load (LCL)

If your shipments are small, they will probably be sent break bulk, or less than container load (LCL), which gives you a higher unit cost than that of larger volume shippers. Besides, your packages will be subject to the potential risks of being dropped by handlers or handling equipment, crushed by heavy cargo, or soaked in seawater.

Even cargo inside waterproof boxes can get wet if the ship sails through cold areas and moisture in the air inside the box condenses.

Now shippers can shrink-wrap cargo and/or add materials to the packages that absorb moisture.

Logic tells us that heavier boxes should be loaded on the bottom and lighter ones on the top, but most steamships call at several ports. What goes in first, or what will come out last, usually ends up on the bottom.

Finally, some kinds of packing materials may get you in trouble with regulatory authorities.

Export Packaging

Export packaging ranges from pallets to corrugated cartons, packaging foams, and plastic crates which, of course, adds to the cost of a transaction. It is important to know the regulations before you finalize a price.

All this means that you should pay attention to how your cargo is packed, even if you don’t personally do the packing. Find out how the first few shipments from a principal or supplier are protected from hazards and, if you don’t like what you see, try to get it corrected.

After You Pack It, Mark It

Companies that frequently pack goods for export know how to mark them, but new exporters may have to be taught. There are several kinds of marks, which are usually printed or stenciled on boxes. In some trades, such as fresh produce, shipping boxes are printed with colorful pictures of the products they contain.

Shipping boxes are usually marked “Made in [country of origin of merchandise].” They also give the gross weight, net weight, and outside dimensions, often in both metric and English systems.

If there is more than one box in a shipment, each one is numbered.

Often a box bears the exporter’s name and the importer’s (or his or her agent’s) name, address, and order number.

There are also cautionary markings on shipping boxes, sometimes in more than one language. The most common ones are “Handle with Care,” “Glass,” “Use No Hooks,” “This Side Up,” “Fragile,” “Keep in Cool Place,” “Keep Dry,” and “Open Here.”

Export Transportation 

One of the most important decisions you will make is the method of transporting your export products from Nigeria. The method chosen will depend on comparative cost and other factors.

Airmail

If you planning to export from Nigeria especially if you want to export documents, then you should consider airmail.

The maximum size, maximum weight, and other regulations vary with the country to which you are mailing.

Courier Services

You can export from Nigeria through courier services, some of the courier providers offer free packaging materials, free shipping software, customs clearance (duties are usually paid and charged to the consignee), on-time delivery or your money back, and proof of delivery.

List of Courier Service Providers that Export from Nigeria

DHL

EMS

NIPOST 

Airfreight

The way couriers have developed such as DHL, EMS etc, you probably wouldn’t want to use airfreight for that 1-5kg you want to export from Nigeria. If you have over 10kg export product, however, you might want to contact an airfreight company.

You can contact one directly or through a freight forwarder. In general, you will want to use a forwarder to export from Nigeria unless you are located near an international airport and don’t mind taking your cargo there and completing an airway bill.

Airfreight rates are nearly always higher than ocean rates, but other costs are often so much lower that air becomes the cheaper way to ship.

Figure 8.2 gives you a format for comparing air and sea to see which is less expensive overall.

Ocean Freight for Cargo Export from Nigeria

The largest weight and volume of export from Nigeria, by far, are moved by ocean freight. The ability to handle huge weights and volumes provides a huge cost advantage to export from Nigeria. One cannot even imagine all the Nigerian export of oil, agricultural produce, commodities, solid minerals etc. by air.

Steamship services (the word “steamship” is still used even though ships are no longer powered by steam) are either scheduled, nonscheduled, or charter.

Nonscheduled lines are usually cheaper but less reliable. You can get sailing schedules from steamship lines, freight forwarders, or specialized domains.

Comparison of Air and Sea Freight

How to Get Shipping Rates When Exporting from Nigeria?

The kind of service, type of cargo, distance, the ship’s route, and the amount of traffic on the route all enter into rate calculations when you want to export from Nigeria.

Both airlines and steamship lines have rate books, known as tariffs, that show the rates for different kinds of cargo between specific areas of the world.

They are also made available in the public domain (e.g., on the carrier’s Web site). You can obtain tariffs by calling the lines themselves, from your freight forwarder, or electronically.

Rates are usually quoted on a weight/measure, or W/M, basis.

Boxes that are large in relation to their weight are charged by the amount of space they occupy, and boxes that are heavy in relation to their Rates that are quoted by weight may reflect different units (e.g., pounds, kilograms, or tons).

Be careful to check which of the three kinds of tons apply in your case. Size are charged according to their weight.

Air container rates show a minimum price for sending each kind of container, the maximum weight that can be shipped for that price, and the charge for each kilogram above that maximum weight. By sea, you simply pay for the container, but there are often weight limits.

Each air and steamship line has a minimum bill of lading, which means that a minimum charge is levied on very small shipments.

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If you want to venture into exporting from Nigeria or start a business or company that export from Nigeria for profits, then you should consider our export business training which will offer you everything you will need to launch a successful export business. We offer both online and practical workshop training