How to Calculate a Modular Building’s International Shipping Cost

Calculating a Modular Building’s International Shipping Cost can seem complicated, but we are going to show you just how easy it is. We get a lot of inquiries concerning this question. So for the sake of all, I’ll break it down.

The Math 

Step One: Start by dividing the square meters/footage of the structure by 2, this number will be the estimated packing space needed. *This step is assuming light steel frame prefab construction. Each prefab system will have its own packing ratio.

Step Two: The building will be packed in 40′ Huge-Cube shipping containers. The floor space for a 40HC shipping container is 28 m2 (304 f2). Divide the estimated packing space by 28 m2 (304 f2) to estimate the number of shipping containers needed.

Step Three: Find the freight charge to a specific location at www.searates.com. Take the cost of shipping a single container and multiply by the number of containers needed from Step Two.

Equation in Action

A client is building a garden style apartment in San Francisco. The structure is 3,250 m2 (34,982 f2), we divide by 2, and the building will pack at 1,625 m2 (17,491 f2). Then we take the packing space needed and divide by the shipping container space, 1,625 m2 (17,491 f2) divided by 28 m2 (304 f2) equals 58 40HC shipping containers. Then we take the shipping cost per 40HC, which is $755 usd from Shanghai to San Francisco, and multiply by the number of containers 58. The final shipping cost is $43,790 usd, or $13.47 per square meter / $1.25 per square foot.

Calculating a modular building’s international shipping cost wasn’t that bad, right?

Further Considerations

The building design will affect the packing space required, like this house made from shipping containers. The season shipped can also have a pretty dramatic effect on pricing. For more information contact us directly.