Which is cheaper, international sea freight or air freight?

In general, international sea freight is cheaper than international air freight. Here is a specific analysis:

Composition of transportation costs

Sea freight: The transportation costs of sea freight mainly include the purchase and leasing of ships, fuel, port loading and unloading, dock docking, crew salaries, and ship maintenance and upkeep expenses. Due to the large loading capacity of shipping vessels, they are able to transport a large amount of goods simultaneously, which allows these costs to be shared among numerous goods, thereby reducing the transportation cost per unit of goods

Air freight: The main costs of air freight come from the purchase and leasing of aircraft, aviation fuel, airport takeoff and landing fees, air traffic control fees, crew salaries, and aircraft maintenance. The cargo capacity of aircraft is relatively small, and the operating costs are high, resulting in relatively high transportation costs per unit of cargo

Freight calculation method

Sea freight: Sea freight is usually calculated based on the volume or weight of the goods, usually measured in units of cubic meters or tons. For light foam goods, they are usually charged by volume; For heavy goods, billing will be based on weight. In addition, sea freight may also have some additional fees, such as fuel surcharges, port congestion surcharges, etc., but overall, its basic freight cost is relatively low

Air freight: The calculation of air freight is relatively complex, mainly based on the actual weight and volumetric weight of the goods to determine the chargeable weight, with the larger of the two. The formula for calculating volumetric weight is: volumetric weight (kg)=length (cm) x width (cm) x height (cm)/6000 or volumetric weight (kg)=volume of goods (cbm) x 167 kg. In addition, air freight will also charge various additional fees such as fuel surcharges and security fees, and the fluctuations of these additional fees are relatively large, resulting in a relatively high total freight cost for air freight