Ocean & Air Shipping From Indonesia to Brazil

Information and quote from Indonesia to Brazil for LCL, FCL and Air shipping

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Updated on 01 Mar 2022

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Brazil is currently Indonesia’s biggest export market in Latin America, with annual trade between the two reaching $1.15 billion (USD) in 2018. Rubber and electrical appliances are among the main types of freight shipped.

Whatever the nature of the goods you’re importing from Indonesia to Brazil, this page will provide you with plenty of information to help you navigate the intricacies of ocean and air freight shipping.

What Are Your Options for Shipping From Indonesia to Brazil?

Warehouse operative pushing a trolley, stacked with boxes, from the Flag of Indonesia towards the flag of Brazil

There are two main ways to export from Indonesia to Brazil: air and ocean shipping. Both modes of transport come with their benefits and drawbacks, as we’ll explain in the following sections.

Ocean Freight From Indonesia to Brazil

Less than Container Load (LCL): Instead of hiring a whole container, you can arrange for your products to travel in a shared container from Indonesia to Brazil. If you’re shipping small quantities of cargo, then this might be the most economical option available to you.

Full Container Load (FCL): When you book FCL, you purchase the right to use a full shipping container exclusively for your freight. As you pay a flat rate to send each container from Indonesia to Brazil, most shippers find that FCL shipping is worthwhile only for larger consignments.

Air Freight from Indonesia to Brazil

Air freight is the fastest way to move your products between Indonesia and Brazil. However, it is much costlier than ocean shipping in most cases.

How Much Does It Cost to Ship Cargo From Indonesia to Brazil?

To generate quotes for ocean and air shipping from Indonesia to Brazil, freight forwarders will take into account several factors:

Your chosen ports of origin and arrival
Whether you want air or ocean shipping
Your choice of FCL or LCL ocean shipping
The type of goods you want to ship
The weight, volume, and size of your goods
Your choice of port-to-door, door-to-port, port-to-port, or door-to-door deliveries

The weight of your shipment, in particular, can play a key role in deciding your choice of ocean and air shipping. Consignments below 100kg can be nearly as cost-effective to ship on an aircraft as aboard a ship. For goods weighing above 100kg, air cargo starts to get far more expensive in comparison with ocean freight.

How Long Does It Take To Ship Freight From Indonesia to Brazil?

On average, it takes eight days to ship goods from Indonesia to Brazil by air freight. There are no direct flights, so indirect services will be used. Ocean shipping is a much longer process, taking at least 38 days for FCL shipping—and up to 56 days for LCL shipments.

How Long Does It Take To Ship Cargo by Sea From Indonesia to Brazil?

The examples below show the estimated transit times for sending ocean freight from Indonesia to Brazil:

Jakarta to Navegantes, Itajaí or Itapoá—56 days FCL
Surabaya to Santos, Itajaí or Itapoá—56 days LCL
Jakarta to Santos—38 days FCL, 56 days LCL
Jakarta to Rio Grande—56 days FCL, 56 days LCL
Jakarta to Parangua—56 days FCL, 52 days LCL
Jakarta to Rio de Janeiro—56 days FCL, 38 days LCL
Semarang to Itajai—51 days FCL

How Long Does It Take to Ship Cargo by Air From Indonesia to Brazil?

The fastest way to ship commercial goods from Indonesia to Brazil is as air freight. To give you an idea of the time it takes, the average shipping duration from Jakarta Airport to Rio de Janeiro Airport is eight days.

Customs Clearance in Indonesia and Brazil

Inspector checking containers as Shipa Freight helps with customs clearance

When your business is engaged in ocean and air shipping from Indonesia to Brazil, there are many complexities associated with customs clearance to take care of, including the documentation required. We’ve provided details of the forms necessary for international shipping here.

Briefly, the paperwork that needs to accompany your shipment to secure export clearance in Indonesia and import clearance in Brazil includes:

A commercial Invoice
A packing List
Certificate(s) of Origin
A letter of Credit or other payment terms (depends on the contract between the parties involved)
A bill of Lading for ocean freight or Airway Bill for air freight (Shipa Freight will provide this for you)

Should You Choose Ocean Freight or Air Freight?

Ocean Freight

If your goods aren’t urgently required by your client or customer in Brazil, or you have a consignment too big to ship as air freight, ocean shipping is for you.

Cargo vessels will usually head west from Indonesia, crossing the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic before docking in eastern Brazil. To book your sea freight with an international ocean carrier, you will need to:

Select your port of origin in Indonesia
Choose your port of arrival in Brazil
Choose whether you want to ship your goods LCL or FCL

The key difference between LCL and FCL is that with LCL (which stands for less-than-container-load), your goods will share a container with other cargo.

With FCL (full container load), you get exclusive use of a container. You can also select from a range of different types of containers to suit the nature of your consignment, including:

Refrigerated containers
Open top containers
Flat rack containers
Insulated containers
Ventilated containers

Your freight forwarder should be able to explain the key differences to you.

Considerations for LCL Freight Shipping

Smaller consignments are often more suited to LCL shipping. This process involves the consolidation of your goods with others in your port of origin in Indonesia before your shared container is lifted aboard a cargo vessel bound for Brazil.

Upon arrival, deconsolidation will occur before your goods can be discharged and transported to your final destination. When booking an LCL shipment, it’s advisable to check that your freight forwarder can:

Provide LCL shipping services between your chosen ports
Provide guidance to help make completing customs clearance documentation easier
Meet your preference for port-to-port, door-to-port, door-to-door, or port-to-door delivery options

Considerations for FCL Freight Shipping

For the exclusive use of a shipping container from Indonesia to Brazil, choose FCL shipping. It is normally the fastest way to ship goods via ocean trade lanes, as no consolidation or deconsolidation is required.

Your container can be filled and sealed at your chosen location in Indonesia and remain sealed until arrival in Brazil—unless customs officials intervene.

Importantly, FCL shipping does not require you to fill your container. You can load as much or as little cargo as you need to import from Indonesia to Brazil. Standard containers suit most ocean freight, and they come in two sizes:

20ft containers which can carry ten or 11 standard pallets
40ft containers with a capacity for up to 21 pallets

Air Freight

The 17,000 kilometers that stand between Indonesia and Brazil is too far for commercial airlines to fly on one tank of fuel. So your freight forwarder will calculate the best indirect route by which to ship your cargo from Indonesia to Brazil. You should consider using air shipping if any of the following apply:

Your goods are perishable or fragile.
Your cargo is high value and will benefit from the extra security offered by airports and airlines.
Your consignment is small enough to fit on a maximum of three pallets.
You want to pay a lower insurance premium.
Your cargo is temperature-sensitive and needs to get from airport to airport quickly.
You want fewer touches of your goods (compared with ocean freight).

Ocean Cargo Port Guide

Cargo Ports of Origin in Indonesia

Jakarta

Port Facts:

Known locally as Cabang Tanjung Priok.
Busiest and most technologically-advanced seaport in Indonesia.
Over half of the country’s ocean cargo is handled here.
Ranked number 22 in Lloyd’s One Hundred Ports 2019 list.
Has 20 terminals, three of which are for containerized goods.
The quay is over 16,800 meters long.
The port’s storage area measures over 660,000 square meters.

Owned By: PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II.

Annual Container Volume: >8 million TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: IDJKT.

Surabaya

Port Facts:

Main port serving East Java, Surabaya (also called Tanjung Perak).
Accessed via the 40 kilometer-long Madura Strait.
Regarded as the center for inter-island shipping in Indonesia.
43rd-busiest port in the world.
Its container hub is one of six terminals in the port.

Owned By: PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II.

Annual Container Volume: >3.8 million TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: IDSUB.

Belawan Sumatra

Port Facts:

Situated on the northwest coast of Sumatra in Medan.
Indonesia’s busiest port outside of Java.
The container terminal handles imports and exports, especially tea, coffee, and rubber.

Owned By: Pelni.

Annual Container Volume: >400,000 TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: IDBLW.

Semarang

Port Facts:

Known as Tanjung Emas Port.
Dates back to the 19th Century.
Indonesia’s third-largest port.
Located on Java’s north coast.
Ideally situated for any supplier in Central or Northern Java, in Kendal, Demak, Ambarawa, and Salatiga.

Owned By: PT Pelabuhan III Indonesia.

Annual Container Volume: >730,000 TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: IDSRG.

Cargo Ports of Arrival in Brazil

Rio Grande du Sol

Port Facts:

Brazil’s second-busiest port.
Medium-sized port in Southern Brazil.
Located close to the mouth of the Rio Grande river.
Has a “Super Porto,” which handles global containerized goods.

Owned By: Superintendencia Porto de Rio Grande.

Annual Container Volume: >760,000 TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: BRRIG.

Santos

Port Facts:

No port in Brazil handles more containers than Santos.
Latin America’s largest port and Sao Paulo’s main ocean gateway.
Powered by the most advanced logistics facilities in Brazil.
Road and rail routes connecting it with inland locations have exceeded their capacity.

Owned By: Federal Government of Brazil.

Annual Container Volume: >4 million TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: BRSSZ.

Suape

Port Facts:

Serves Northeastern Brazil.
Boasts advanced ocean freight handling facilities, including a laser-enabled docking system.
Goods shipped here can be transported onward across Northern and Eastern Brazil using state and federal roads.

Owned By: Governor Eraldo Gueiros Industrial Port Complex.

Annual Container Volume: >400,000 TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: BRSUA.

Navegantes

Port Facts:

A small seaport compared to many in Brazil.
Has a 900-meter quay with eight cranes.
The port’s warehouse measures 50,000 square meters.
Offers specialist facilities for frozen goods storage.

Owned By: Portonave S/A.

Annual Container Volume: >264,000 TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: BRNVT.

Rio de Janeiro

Port Facts:

Predominantly cruise-focused port.
Has impressive container-handling facilities.
Offers a 7 kilometer-long cargo hub with a 900-meter pier.
The warehouse storage area spans 65,000 square meters.

Owned By: Companhia Docos do Rio de Janeiro.

Annual Container Volume: >380,000 TEUs.

UN/LOCODE: BRRIO.

Other Ports in Brazil

You can also arrange to send commercial goods from Indonesia to these other Brazilian ports:

Salvador
Belem
Vitoria
Pecem
Paranagua
Itapoa
Itajal
Manaus

Flying Your Freight: Airport Guide

Airports of Origin in Indonesia

Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta

Airport Facts:

Sometimes abbreviated to SHIA.
Jakarta’s main airport.
Located on the island of Java, about 20 kilometers northwest of Central Jakarta.
A third runway opened in August 2019, with further expansion due to be completed in 2025.
The freight terminal currently lies on the east side of Terminal One but will move to a bigger site on the west side of Terminal Two.

Brazil Airports Served: None.

Jakarta to Brazil Cargo-Only Operators: None.

IATA Code: CGK.

Denpasar Bali

Airport Facts:

Also called Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Located 13 kilometers south of the city of Denpasar.
Indonesia’s second-busiest airport.
Can receive wide-body aircraft on its runways and aprons.
Best for suppliers in Kuta or Jimbaran.

Brazil Airports Served: None.

Denpasar to Brazil Cargo-Only Operators: None.

IATA Code: DPS.

Surabaya

Airport Facts:

Called Juanda International Airport.
Located 12 kilometers from Surabaya in East Java.
Indonesia’s third-busiest airport.
Has three terminals and one runway.
The two-story cargo building can handle up to 120,000 tonnes of air freight every year.

Brazil Airports Served: None.

Surabaya to Brazil Cargo-Only Operators: None.

IATA Code: SUB.