sourcing · 7 min read
Shipping fabric from China: courier, air, LCL or FCL
Fabric is heavy and compresses well, which makes it one of the better cargoes to ship. The wrong choice is usually not the mode — it is the packing and the chargeable weight, which quietly decide the bill.
By Weft Bridge · Reviewed by our Guangzhou sourcing team · Updated 2026-11
The four options
| Mode | Best for | Transit | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Express (DHL/FedEx) | Samples and swatches | 3–7 days | Chargeable weight is volumetric above 5,000 cm³/kg |
| Air freight | 200–1,000 kg, urgent | 5–10 days | Airport charges and customs clearance on top |
| LCL (sea, shared) | 1–15 cbm | 25–40 days | Destination charges can exceed the freight |
| FCL (sea, container) | 15+ cbm | 20–35 days | You pay for the container, not the cargo |
Why fabric usually ships well
Rolled fabric is dense, so a container fills by weight before it fills by volume. That makes sea freight economical and makes air freight expensive per kilogram.
The exception is bulky finished goods — fleece, towelling, padded items — where volume, not weight, sets the price. For those, ask for vacuum packing or compression, and check that the mill can do it without crushing the pile.
The packing details that change the bill
- Roll diameter and length: long rolls waste container height.
- Cores: heavy cardboard cores add weight and are charged as cargo.
- Bags and labels: poly bag per roll, shipping marks on the outside.
- Palletising: faster to handle, but pallets take volume and are chargeable.
- Moisture protection: desiccant and a container liner for sea freight.
Incoterms decide who pays what
FOB leaves the main carriage to you, which gives you control and visibility. CIF looks simpler but the seller chooses the forwarder, and the destination charges are still yours. DDP is convenient and usually the most expensive per kilogram.
For a first order, FOB plus your own forwarder is the least surprising option — you see every charge.
FAQ
How much fabric fits in a 20ft container?
Roughly 10–12 tonnes, depending on roll density and packing. A 40ft high cube takes about twice that. The limit is usually weight for fabric, not volume.
Is air freight ever worth it for fabric?
For a replenishment on a bestseller with a short window, sometimes. For routine orders, the cost per kilogram rarely works.
Who pays destination charges on LCL?
You do, unless the quote says otherwise. Ask for a door-delivered quote and compare it with the port-to-port number.