Shipping mode: transit times, volumetric weight, density

Times are indicative. Season, border queues and Chinese holidays shift them.

• Dubai → Kazakhstan: 3⁠–⁠5 days.
• Hong Kong: express 3⁠–⁠5 days, air 5⁠–⁠7 days, road 12⁠–⁠18 days.
• China: air 3⁠–⁠7 days, truck 10⁠–⁠18 days, rail 18⁠–⁠30 days.

Chargeable weight is the greater of actual and volumetric weight. Air cargo divides the volume in centimetres by 6000, which is 167 kg per m³. DHL Express and other express services divide by 5000, or 200 kg per m³.

A 60 × 40 × 40 cm box weighing 8 kg takes 0.096 m³. Air bills it as 16 kg, express as 19.2 kg. Empty space inside the box is paid for like goods.

Density is weight in kilograms divided by volume in cubic metres. Dense cargo is billed per kilo, light cargo per cubic metre. With us, anything under 200 kg/m³ is priced per m³. A 400 kg batch in 2 m³ is exactly 200 kg/m³. Clothing at 400 kg in 4 m³ is 100 kg/m³ and goes by volume.

Air volumetric weight: 1.5 × 167 ≈ 250 kg, less than the actual 300 kg, so 300 kg is billed. By road the density is 200 kg/m³, so it also goes by weight. If the air rate is four times the road rate, the batch costs about four times as much by plane and arrives one to two weeks earlier. The rates here are notional, for the arithmetic only.

For a quote we need the dimensions and weight of each piece, the number of pieces, a description of the goods and their value. Batteries, liquids, magnets and powders travel by air under separate rules and are declared up front.