A hotel group buys against a brand standard. An importer buys against a shelf price, which makes landed cost the only figure that matters. Quotations from Indian exporters are normally FOB — the goods loaded at an Indian port — so everything between that rail and your warehouse is yours to add. The components are few and none of them are mysterious.
The seven components
| Component | What it covers | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| FOB price | Goods, packing and delivery to the Indian port rail. Quoted per piece. | Supplier |
| Ocean freight | Container rate, port to port. Varies by season, lane and how far ahead you book. | Freight forwarder |
| Insurance | Marine cover on the consignment value. Included if you buy CIF instead of FOB. | You or supplier |
| Customs duty | Zero on qualifying Indian cotton made-ups under CETA. See below. | Tariff schedule |
| Import VAT | Charged at import, normally recoverable for a VAT-registered business. | HMRC |
| Clearance & port charges | Customs entry, terminal handling, any inspection. Per container, not per piece. | Broker / terminal |
| Inland haulage | Port to your warehouse. This is where port choice pays. | Haulier |
Duty: zero, but from CETA — not DCTS
Under the India–UK CETA, in force since 15 July 2026, the UK’s 12% MFN duty on HS 6302 cotton made-ups falls to zero for qualifying goods. Cotton bathrobes under HS 6207 and 6208 move the same way, and cotton floor mats under HS 5702 go from roughly 8% to zero.
The distinction matters when you check the claim. India was graduated out of UK DCTS textile preferences on 1 January 2026, so any supplier still citing DCTS as the basis for duty-free entry is quoting a scheme that no longer applies to Indian origin. Ask which agreement the zero rate comes from, and ask for the origin declaration.
One point worth being straight about: zero duty puts India levelwith several competing origins rather than ahead of them. Pakistan and Bangladesh already enter at reduced or zero duty under the UK’s developing-countries scheme, and Turkey has its own agreement with the UK. The 12% advantage is over China and other full-duty origins. Against Turkish or Pakistani supply, the argument has to be cotton, construction and lead time.
A worked example
| Line | Basis | Per piece |
|---|---|---|
| FOB price, bath towel | Supplier quotation, per piece | A |
| Ocean freight | Container rate ÷ pieces in the container | B |
| Insurance | Percentage of consignment value | C |
| Customs duty | 0% under CETA on qualifying origin | nil |
| Clearance & port charges | Fixed per container ÷ pieces | D |
| Inland haulage | Fixed per container ÷ pieces | E |
| Landed cost per piece | Sum of the above | A + B + C + D + E |
| Import VAT | Charged at import; recoverable if VAT-registered | cash-flow only |
Note what B, D and E have in common: they are container costs divided by the number of pieces inside. Fill the container better and the landed cost per piece falls without anyone moving on price. That is why mixed containers across several lines usually beat part-loads of one line, and why the CBM per carton is worth asking for at quotation stage.
Port choice is a cost line, not a detail
Inland haulage is a per-container cost, so the distance from quay to your warehouse lands directly in your per-piece figure. Liverpool is a direct west-coast call under an hour from Bolton and about thirty minutes from Manchester. Hull sits roughly ninety minutes from Bradford. Felixstowe carries the most sailings but adds road time to most inland clusters — around two and a half hours to Leicester, roughly two into London. The full lane detail sits on the ports page.
What to ask for with a quotation
- FOB price per piece, and which Indian port it is FOB from
- CBM and pieces per carton, so you can calculate container fill
- The HS code each line will be declared under
- Confirmation of CETA-qualifying origin and the declaration that comes with it
- Lead time from approved sample to vessel, stated separately from transit
- Packing specification — polybag, barcode, carton labelling
Landed-cost questions we are asked
- What duty applies to cotton towels imported from India to the UK?
- Zero on qualifying goods. Under the India–UK CETA, in force since 15 July 2026, the UK's 12% MFN duty on HS 6302 lines — terry towels and bed, bath and toilet linen — falls to zero for goods meeting the agreement's origin rules. Cotton bathrobes under HS 6207 and 6208 move the same way, and cotton floor mats under HS 5702 go from roughly 8% to zero. Origin is met on a change-of-tariff-heading plus value-content basis, with exporter self-certification through DGFT registration.
- Is import VAT part of landed cost?
- It is cash you pay, but for a VAT-registered UK business it is normally recoverable, so it does not sit in your margin. Most importers use postponed VAT accounting, which declares and recovers the import VAT on the same return rather than paying it at the border. Treat it as a cash-flow item, not a cost, and confirm the treatment with your accountant.
- How many towels fit in a 40ft container?
- It depends on GSM and how tightly the goods are compressed in packing, so the honest answer is that it is calculated per programme from the carton dimensions and the cubic metres available. Ask for the CBM per carton and the pieces per carton with your quotation, and the container maths follows from that rather than from a rule of thumb.
- Does a mixed container change the landed cost per piece?
- The freight, clearance and haulage costs are shared across the whole container, so a mixed container spreads those fixed costs across several product lines instead of one. Per piece, heavier goods absorb more of the freight because they consume more of the weight or volume allowance. Each line still carries its own minimum — custom shades from 500 pieces per shade.
Working out a landed cost?
Send your spec sheet. Quote within one business day.
Include the sizes, weights and quantities you need. We quote exact where the cut exists and nearest match where it does not, with CBM per carton so you can run the container maths yourself.