Container Shipping to Nigeria From USA: All you need to know

Shipping a container from the U.S to Nigeria can be tricky and you’ll want to ensure you’ve got things right the first time. The country is one of Africa’s largest trading partners and the majority of imports are transported through maritime ports. Any shipping company that is looking to export goods must be registered with the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Cost to ship a container
Shipping a container to Nigeria is a big undertaking. You need to hire a good company to do it. The average cost of shipping a container to Nigeria is $4500. Get a detailed rate by contacting the ship company’s quotation team. This team can tell you the price of shipping your containers to the most popular ports in Nigeria, including Apapa port, Lagos Port, Tin Can Island Container Terminal, Onne Port, and Port Harcourt.
Cost to ship to Tin can Island Port from the USA
Shipping containers near Tin Can Island port in Nigeria, the terminal that is twenty kilometers from Lagos. This port is a major point of entry for the city of Lagos. The port of Tin Can Island is about seven kilometers due west of the center of Lagos across Lagos Harbor in Nigeria West Africa Coast.
Tin Can Island, a port terminal created in the 1980s, welcomed international ships with containers in 1997. The Nigerian Ports Authority took over operations of Tin Can Island in 1991 as a very important import trade zone for Nigeria.
Nigeria is a major importer of vehicles in West Africa, and in 1977 the first RoRo (Roll on roll off) terminal was designated as part of the new Tin Can Island Port. In 2006, the Tin Can Island port merged with RoRo terminal operators, PTML, who have been making an effort to redevelop the terminals.
Tin Can island in Lagos is one of the best places for exchanges in cargo. The popular terminal handles containers of cars, commercial commodities, and personal effects from the US and Europe. Tin Can also provides a smooth process for imports and exports of vehicles to Africa.
Estimated transit time
The transit time for an average container from the United States to Nigeria is from 4 weeks to 6 weeks. This is just an example of the transit time one could expect when shipping a container from the US to Nigeria.
When you are looking for the quickest way to ship a container to Nigeria, there are two options. The first is the route using New York NYCT Terminal using ACL-Grimaldi Line; the second is the Baltimore Maryland route with Grimaldi. The average transit time for the NYCT – Grimaldi Route is 18 days; the average transit time for the Baltimore Route with Grimaldi is 20 days.
The slowest shipping route to get a container of cars to Lagos, Nigeria is the Vancouver Canada to Nigeria route. The trip lasts between 60-65 days. The next longest route is Long Beach, CA to Lagos, Nigeria with an average transit time between 55-60 days.
FCL or Shared Container LCL?
Whether you have one or more than 4 cars, your first step to shipping to Nigeria is to contact an export company in the USA. They’ll assess the volume and weight of your shipment, then recommend the best option for you – a full container for a single car or more than 2 cars, up to a 40HQ container with FCL shipping. The other option is a shared container or a groupage, which can be less than a container load.
Documents required
Shipping cars to Nigeria is not an easy process. To ensure the process goes smoothly, you will need these documents. There are two sets of documents, one for international residents and one for US citizens. The international resident documents should have a copy of their passport and a power of attorney form while US citizens should have a letter of intent and an EIN letter or TAX ID.