FOB

How it is used

Always followed by the port of shipment: 'FOB Izmir'. The seller pays for export clearance and all costs up to loading; the buyer pays the ocean freight and insurance. For container cargo the ICC recommends FCA instead, but FOB is still very widely used.

Example sentences

1. Our prices are FOB Mersin, so the buyer books the vessel and pays the ocean freight.

2. Under FOB, who is responsible if the goods are damaged at the port before loading?

Common collocations

• FOB price
• FOB value
• quote FOB
• FOB port of shipment

Related terms

• IncotermsA set of standard trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce that tell the buyer and seller who arranges and pays for transport, and where risk passes between them.
• CIFShort for Cost, Insurance and Freight: a sea-only Incoterms rule in which the seller pays freight and minimum insurance to the destination port, but risk passes to the buyer once the goods are on board.
• EXWShort for Ex Works: the Incoterms rule in which the seller only makes the goods available at its own premises, and the buyer handles loading, export clearance and all transport.
• vesselA ship, especially a large one that carries cargo; the standard word for ships in shipping documents and freight emails.
• ocean freightThe transport of goods by ship, mostly in containers; the cheapest way to move large volumes over long international distances.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• FOB · International Trade

More terms: Incoterms

• DAP
• DDP