China to Colombia freight rates and market updates — dated log 2026

In our quotation log for May to September 2026 the 20GP rate to Buenaventura ran from USD 4,950 – USD 7,800 per container across 8 quotations, loaded mainly at Yantian / Shekou. Ocean freight is quoted port-to-port and the figure moves with the weekly GRI, peak-season surcharges and equipment availability, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a fixed tariff and confirm it against your cargo ready date.

The 40ft and 40HQ quotations we logged to Buenaventura in May to September 2026 ranged from USD 5,350 – USD 9,200 per container across 8 quotations. Other gateways priced in the same period: Cartagena at USD 8,300. A 40ft high cube carries roughly twice the volume of a 20GP for well under twice the freight, so once your cargo passes about 28 CBM the 40HQ is normally the cheaper unit per cubic metre.

Yes. During 2026 we logged 18 offers to Colombia where equipment or space was available to the desk while the carrier kept the freight rate on request (mostly to Buenaventura, Cartagena). That pattern usually means space is open but the tariff is being quoted case by case. Send your cargo ready date and we will come back with the vessel, the sailing and a named price.

Typical port-to-port sailing time from South China is roughly 18 to 40 days; add three to seven days if the cargo loads in North China. Direct services beat transhipment routings by one to two weeks, and schedule reliability, blank sailings and port congestion all move the date. We confirm the actual ETD and ETA against your booking rather than quoting a standard transit time.

Ocean and rail figures are the port-to-port (or terminal-to-terminal) freight only. They exclude origin handling, export customs, THC and CFS, documentation, destination THC, import duty and final delivery, unless the row names a door-to-door or DDP service. Air figures are airport-to-airport per chargeable kilo and exclude pick-up and delivery. Every figure is indicative until it is confirmed against a specific vessel, flight or train and a cargo ready date.

Yes. LCL groupage is charged per revenue tonne (1 CBM or 1,000 kg, with volume weight taken if it is greater) plus fixed documentation and CFS charges, so it is usually the better option below roughly 15 CBM. Above that a 20GP starts to win on cost per cubic metre. Give us the volume, weight and cargo readiness and we will price both side by side for Colombia.

Send the commodity, gross weight, volume, the pick-up city in China and the delivery address in Colombia to sales8015@goodhopefreight.com. We reply with the applicable service, the named vessel, flight or train, the cut-off and an all-in cost, usually the same working day. If you are weighing up routes, tell us the ready date and we will price sea, rail and air side by side.

Both work, and the decision usually turns on the truck leg. Cartagena is the established gateway, but Medellín sits at the end of a roughly 660 km (410 miles) haul from it. Turbo, with the Puerto Antioquia deep-water terminal that opened in February 2026, is less than half that distance from Medellín, so the road leg is short. On the current CMA CGM offer out of Shenzhen, sailing 27 October 2026, ocean freight to Turbo is USD 9,000 per 20GP and USD 9,200 per 40HQ, with 20NOR and 40NOR at USD 4,800 and local charges additional at both ends. Compare the two options door-to-Medellín rather than port-to-port: a cheaper ocean leg can be eaten by the truck. Send the delivery address and the cargo ready date and we will price both on the same basis.

They are not the same equipment, and the difference changes both the price and what the cargo may be. A genuine reefer (20RF / 40RF) is a temperature-controlled unit: it runs off the vessel's power supply at a set point and carries frozen, chilled or ambient-sensitive product, with monitoring and, where the commodity needs it, controlled ventilation or humidity. NOR stands for non-operating reefer — the same insulated shell, but it is not plugged in and not temperature controlled, so it is booked and rated as a dry container. Carriers often have reefer equipment to reposition and price it accordingly, which is why a NOR can undercut a dry box. On the current Shenzhen–Turbo offer, sailing 27 October 2026, 20NOR and 40NOR are USD 4,800 each against USD 9,000 for a 20GP and USD 9,200 for a 40HQ. If the cargo needs a set point, send the temperature range, whether it is frozen or chilled, and any ventilation or humidity requirement, and we will quote a powered reefer instead — plug-in, monitoring and genset charges sit on top of the ocean freight.