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How to import aluminium foil from China
The full sequence from specification to bill of lading, plus the four points where first orders actually fail.
14 min read
Fifteen guides covering the questions that come up before every order — what each gauge is for, why core size ruins shipments, which markets carry duty exposure, and what a foil price is actually made of.
The full sequence from specification to bill of lading, plus the four points where first orders actually fail.
Why the minimum is set by cubic metres rather than tonnage, and how mixed loading de-risks a first order.
Five checks you can run from your desk, and the red flags that predict a bad third container.
Where the freight margin hides, why CIF insurance rarely pays, and when DDP transfers your legal risk.
Composition, strength and formability compared, with the cases where the cheaper alloy is the right one.
Thickness is the biggest cost lever and the easiest thing to get wrong. How to choose by shelf, not by preference.
The cheapest specification decision you will make, and the most expensive one to get wrong.
Where they come from, how to test a sample with a phone torch, and what to accept at each gauge.
Seven stages from ingot to retail roll — and why the quality you complain about is decided in the first three.
Format, board stiffness and front-face clarity — the three decisions that decide private-label performance.
EU 30%, India up to USD 976.99 per tonne, US AD/CVD — scope, rates and what remains open.
Classification at six digits, the 7607.11 / 7607.19 / 7607.20 split, and the four ways it goes wrong.
What "food grade" is actually asking, which documents prove it, and how to read a migration test report.
Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Central Asia — how each region buys.
Metal, conversion, packaging, freight — and why two quotes for the same spec differ by 18%.
If you are buying foil for the first time, read the importing guide and the duty guide first. Those two decide whether there is a business here at all. Everything else is optimisation.