Cost Insurance Freight CIF Incoterms ® 2010 | Use Case Scenario
How The CIF Incoterms ® Rule Delivers
In order to better reflect modern commercial reality, the ICC created a new classification system for Incoterms and abolished the previous classification system which was based on the first letter of the Incoterm rule. Under Incoterms 2010, the ICC has divided the Incoterms in accordance with the means of transportation as follows:
Rules for any Mode or Modes of Transport: EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAT, DAP, DDP
Rules for Sea and Inland Waterway Transport: FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF
CIF Incoterms ®
In our series on the importance of understanding and leveraging Incoterms® 2010, we take a deeper and more detailed look into the Cost Insurance Freight (CIF) Incoterm and the impacts negotiated, as well as often overlooked during the establishment of project viability or business case development for capital projects that are going to be requiring international sales contracts to fulfill their mandates.
First we review what CIF Incoterm is as defined by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC): CIF is recommended for use with non-containerized sea freight.
CIF Definition: CIF, or "cost, insurance and freight", is a term used in international contracts for the sale of goods being shipped by sea to a port of destination where the seller pays the cost of the insurance and transport of the goods to the destination, and provides the buyer with the documents necessary to obtain the goods from the carrier. Legal delivery occurs when the goods cross the ship's rail in the port of shipment (where they are being shipped FROM).
Insurance Charges
Under CIF, the seller is required to obtain insurance only for minimum coverage. If the buyer wants more comprehensive insurance, they must ensure that the seller is contractually obliged to do so within their contract.
Insurance coverage for goods during shipment:
Freight insurance can be purchased directly from a shipper or from a third-party insurer. also called cargo insurance.
Cargo Insurance Types
Insurers offer two basic types of ocean cargo insurance policies. A voyage policy is used when insuring a single voyage, sometimes referred to as a "stray risk" or "trip risk." Voyage policies are used primarily to cover shipments made by infrequent shippers. The other basic type of policy is the open cargo policy.
Motor Truck Cargo insurance (Cargo) provides insurance on the freight or commodity hauled by a For-hire trucker. It covers your liability for cargo that is lost or damaged due to causes such as fire, collision, or striking of a load.
Marine Insurance
Marine insurance covers the loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport or cargo by which property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and final destination.
Cargo Management Charges
Stevedoring Charges
Stevedoring is the process of loading and unloading ships. The main sectors of stevedoring are container terminal operations - the loading and discharge of container vessels at terminal ports, largely using advanced mechanical technology. Stevedoring charges are the charges incurred for unloading the goods from ship hold to wharf. These charges are treated as forming part of the freight and are to be added to the value for the purpose of charging duty on imported goods. This contingency arises only when the carrier does not include these charges in the Freight Bill.
Wharfage Charges
A charge assessed by a shipping terminal or port when goods are moved through the location. Wharfage is one of the costs of transport goods within the distribution system used by a business to bring its goods to market.
Terminal Handling Charges
Terminal Handling Charges (THC) or Container Service Charges (CSC) are essentially charges on top of the sea freight, collected by shipping lines to recover from the shippers the cost of paying the container terminals or mid stream operators for the loading or unloading of the containers, and other related costs borne by the shipping lines at the port of shipment or destination terminal before being loaded onboard a vessel.
Container Freight Station Charges
Container Freight Station (CFS) is the term used at the loading port and means the location designated by carriers for the receiving of cargo to be loaded into containers by the carrier. At discharge or destination ports, the term CFS means the bonded location designated by carriers for devanning of containerized cargo.
Entry Of Goods Valuation And Charges
Entry costs and their determination are also a part of negotiating the international sales contract under CIF. You may wonder how Incoterms selection impact the landed entry costs, it is often overlooked that the Incoterms define where the responsibility for costs rests within the contract covering all of the aspects mentioned above and in certain circumstances there may also be packaging requirements for containers where inspection is required for example.
It is often overlooked that inspection for customs or quality control / delivery inspections incur a cost of service that needs to be considered in the overall costing process.
What Is Included In CIF Value?
For the purpose of customs valuation, the CIF value is the price paid for the goods plus the cost of transportation, loading, unloading, handling, insurance, and associated costs incidental to delivery of the goods from the port or place of export in the country of export to the port or place of import in the country.
Assessable Value
Assessable value is a very broad term and complicated, it means the total end assessed value upon which various duties and taxes are levied . The Assessable value is calculated based on various factors/valuation rules mentioned in the Excise Act/Rules as per the Import or Export country.
Use Case Scenario
For our case study purpose, below is an example of an international sales contract announced by Northern Minerals Ltd. where CIF was selected from the 2010 Incoterms to guide the pricing, risk and responsibility for this agreement where they are leveraging CIF to determine clarity on costs for their sales agreement:
Northern Minerals Ltd. (ASX:NTU) announced that it has entered into a sales agreement with Lianyugang Zeyu New Materials Sales Co. Ltd. (JFMAG). The agreement covers all planned production from the company's Browns Range pilot plant.
JFMAG is a subsidiary of Guangdong Rare Earths Group, and Guangdong Rare Earths Group is a subsidiary of Guangdong Raising Asset Management. Guangdong Rare Earths Group is one of China's five major vertically integrated heavy rare earths companies.
The Sales Agreement terms are based off CIF Incoterms 2010 with pricing referenced from a 2-month average of quoted prices on Asian Metals and Beijing Ruidow Information Technology.
Under the Sales Agreement, prior to the first shipment of rare earth carbonates, JFMAG will make a pre-payment to Northern Minerals of A$10 million. The prepayment covers approximately 15% of the expected value of production during the Pilot Plant phase, with the remaining 85% to be paid to Northern Minerals over the course of the agreement based on volumes delivered. JFMAG or its nominated beneficiary will be issued 40 million unlisted options at $0.25 exercise price which can be converted to ordinary shares to offset the pre-payment of A$10 million.
Northern Minerals Enters Sales Agreement for Browns Range Pilot Plant Output
