High Quality of Egyptian Cotton
Egypt is widely recognized as a country that produces high quality cotton for bedding. Egypt is called ‘king of all cottons’ because of the highest quality of manufactured cotton production (Taylor Bed Sheets, n.d.). Usually, manufacturers use special types of plants to produce Egyptian cotton commodities. These plants are Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense (Taylor Bed Sheets, n.d.). It is notable that these plants were delivered from the Northern America by Mohammed Ali Pasha. This ruler intended to make clothes to his worriers.
The Egyptian cotton is known all over the world for its extinguishing characteristics. This is a breathable fabric that is resistant to piling. These characteristics are obtained because plants of cotton do not produce much lint. Washing makes Egyptian cotton softer in contrast to cotton manufactured in other countries. However, new commodities can perish with course of time. One more notable feature of Egyptian cotton is that it can be used for making fibers of exciting length. They are much longer than stripes made from another type of cotton. In such a way, this feature provides ability to manufacture bigger amount of thread, i.e. more threads on 2.5 cm of manufactured fabric. High quality materials have larger amount of thread counts than low quality materials. These materials do not perish in course of time and can be used for years. However, it should be mentioned that the outstanding characteristics of Egyptian cotton and the high quality of sheets leads to a comparable high price of this production. The price of a bed sheet made of Egyptian cotton can reach $150 (Taylor Bed Sheets, n.d.).
Transportation in Containers – Fast, Convenient and Cheap
Nowadays, containers play a major role in intermodal transportation. The convenience of containers is reflected in the ability of transportation by rail, by car and by ship. This method prevents goods from discharging from the container during the whole period of transportation. Among the main benefits of container transportation, there is safety of the cargo. Bed sheets are not affected and spoiled by nature: sea water, rain or snow, sun light, etc. during the process transportation. One more benefit provided by container transportation is decreasing expenses on labor necessary for loading and discharging operations because bed sheets will be loaded into container only at the place of departure in Egypt and will be discharged from the container only in the place of destination in the USA. Along with that, using containers for transportation considerably decreased the possibility of pilferage and theft because containers are safely closed and sealed. Sealing of containers can be performed at the point of departure in Egypt. The last but not the least benefit of using containers is the fact that due to elimination of loading/discharging procedures and using modern handling equipment in ports, the transportation has become tame-saving. Additionally, it should be mentioned that containers can be used not only as a means of transportation from the loading point to discharging point. They can also be used as independent storage settings in the situations when there is no possibility to perform immediate discharging of bed sheets from the container, goods can be stored there as long as it will be necessary.
Egyptian bed sheets are deemed to be transported via liner shipping. This way of container transportation is considered to be one of the most efficient for long distance routes. Big liner ships have a large capacity and can carry numerous containers on board. This allows decreasing operational expenses of shipping lines in terms of fuel, salaries to workers, disbursement accounts in ports of loading, ports of discharging, ports of call and while passing straits and canals. Some container ships can also carry cars, trucks and some other bulk on board. In addition, it should be mentioned that the speed of container ships is usually higher than the speed of other types of vessel. It means that the period of transportation is considerably shorter. One of the main benefits of liner shipping is that there is a special time table of vessels’ entering ports of call. Therefore, customers have a notion when the ship is expected to enter the port of call and what is the estimated time of transportation by sea. People have the opportunity to track container on official sites of container lines. Thus, the whole transportation period from the place of departure to the place of destination can be precisely planned and controlled.
Transportation is performed by one of the largest container lines in the world – ZIM Container Line, which has more than 50 years’ experience in shipping. The company provides services of transportation in more than120 counties all over the world. The total carrying capacity of the container fleet of this company is more than 300,000 TEU (ZIM, n.d.).
This line provides service for shipping from the Mediterranean Sea to New York. On the site of this container line, the following service has been chosen: ZIM Container Service Atlantic (ZCA). This service provides the following route of transportation: Ashdod – Haifa – Piraeus – Livorno – Genoa – Barcelona – Tarragona – Valencia – Halifax – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Valencia – Tarragona – Livorno – Ashdod (ZIM, n.d.). It should be noted that the container with Egyptian bed sheets can be delivered form Alexandria to Ashdod by ZIM or by one of the local container lines such as Maersk, MSC, NYK, etc. According to ZIM site, the estimated transit time from Ashdod to New York is about 23 days. The expected time of transportation from Alexandria to Ashdod is 1 day. Thus, the whole sea transportation from Alexandria to New York is expected to take about 24 days.
Cost of Transportation
Tariff on transportation comprises from the following elements: the BAS (basic ocean freight); the THC (terminal handling charge); the SBF (Bunker Adjustment Factor); documentation charges; rate for storage of container in sea port (ZIM, n.d.).
The THC represents expenses for handling container, i.e. loading or discharging from container ship to container terminal or from it. Charges for storage of container in port are different for different lines in different ports. These charges depend on the type of container and time of storage in the storage area. The SBF helps container lines to correspond to vulnerability of bunker prices on the market. Documentation charges are taken for preparing and issuance documentation on cargo (like Cargo Manifest and Bill of Lading). The BAS itself is a payment for transportation of containers. It depends on the points of departure and destination, and the type of the cargo.
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Each container line has its own tariffs. Unfortunately, tariffs of container lines are not published on official sites of these companies. However, this information can be provided to customers or forwarding companies as per special request. This request usually contains description of goods; description of container; ports of loading and discharging; shipper, receiver and notify party; expected departure dates, among others. It should be mentioned that forwarding companies, which have long lasting business relations with container lines and work with a huge amount of containers, can obtain lower prices on transportation.
The overall cost of sea transportation can be requested from the forwarding company or the internet site. The forwarding companies sign contracts on forwarding with their clients for handling the movement of commodities from the point of departure to the point of destination on behalf of the owners of the cargo. These companies can perform custom clearance of container with bed sheets both in Egypt and in the USA; make out and work with documentation on cargo (Shipping Instructions, Shipping Orders, Bills of Lading, Cargo Manifests, Packing lists and etc.); organize on-land transportation for cooperation with container lines. As it was mentioned above, in cases when these companies have long lasting and close relations with container lines, they can cut down prices on sea transportation to their clients. However, for this essay, the information concerning sea transportation from publically will be taken from the accessible internet site Worldfreightrates (World Freight Rates, n.d.). By using freight calculator for determination of sea transportation of 40” DV container with bed sheet from Alexandria, Egypt to New York, the USA, it has been established that the price of transportation will be equal to $ 5,000.
Port of Departure – Alexandria
In this essay, transportation from the biggest Egyptian container port Alexandria will be considered. This port has rather long history, and its foundation dates back to about 1900 BC (World Port Source, n.d.). More than half of all cargoes, which are imported or exported from the country, came through this port. Nowadays, the port is developing at a swift rate. Port authorities intend to add more than 11 km to the existing berths, increase dock area on about 300 hectares and build the new breakwater till the end of the current year.
Loading of the container with bed sheets will be performed on Alexandria International Container Terminal (AICT) (World Port Source, n.d.). This terminal has modern equipment, which can handle loading of containers in a short time.
Alexandria has been chosen due to the fact that it is one of the largest container ports in Egypt. It allows performing quick handling of container.
Port of Arrival – New York
The container with bed sheets is considered to arrive to the port district of New York – the Port of New York and New Jersey. The port has connection with other territory of the country by both automobile roads and railway. Therefore, a container can be handled on a queue and easily transported to any place in the USA.
The building of port was completed in 1937 (Port of New York and New Jersey, n.d.). Nowadays, the Port of New York and New Jersey is considered to be one of the largest ports in America. There are four container terminals in a port. They handle more than 3 million TEU annually (Port of New York and New Jersey, n.d). According to the road of used ZIM Container Service Atlantic (ZCA), discharging of the container from the container ship will be performed on Maher Terminals LLC in the Port of New York and New Jersey. This company is one of the biggest container operators in the USA (Port of New York and New Jersey, n.d). Modern equipment is used for providing effective and efficient operations and decreasing time of discharging from container vessel.
This port has been chosen due to the fact that it is the biggest container port on the East Coast of the country. It has modern equipment, which allows quick handling of containers. Ramified infrastructure provides easy transportation to anywhere in the USA. The choice of this port located particularly on the east coast of the country was predetermined by the fact that transportation from Egypt to the east coast will take less time and will be less expensive than transportation of the container from Egypt to a port located on the west coast of the USA via Panama Canal.
The HS Code of Bed Sheet and American Regulatory Requirements
The Harmonized System (the HS) is an international nomenclature, which covers more than five thousand types of products. It was developed by the World Customs Organization. Each product can be referred to a special product code. The HS code complies with ‘the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System’ (World Customs Organizations, n.d.)
This system consists of 21 sections and 96 charters, as well as numerous headings and subheadings. The classification of goods is performed in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation. The HS code of the product is appropriated in accordance to its characteristics and functions. It is notable that there are special headings ‘Other’ in each group for the products, which are not covered by the basic classification characteristics.
The Harmonized System is effectively used in more than two hundred countries all over the world in all the sections of economy. More than 98 per cent of commodities, which are bought and sold on the international market, are classified under this system. The main goal of implementation of the Harmonized System is making classification and documentation of products easier and faster. This system is used for setting international regulations, charges and tariffs; generalized application of rules and regulations; avoiding of misunderstanding and variant readings of in the international trade. In addition, the Harmonized System allows performing effective and efficient calculation and control of goods involved in the international trade all over the world.
The HS code represents 10 figures, which characterize some particular commodity. It should be mentioned that this code up to sixth digit level is common for all goods originated from all the countries. The next four figures are used by the authorities of countries for description the good for country’s inner purposes, for example, for the needs of tariff regulation or statistics.
Definition of the HS code can be performed by several ways. The first one is using numerous online sites, which provide searching of the code by name or by distinctive characteristics of the commodity. The second way is searching the good in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2015). In this work, both methods are used. First of all, the bed sheets were specified on the internet sites, and then the HS code checked in the American Harmonized Tariff Schedule was obtained.
The HS code for bed sheets is 6302.10.0008. This code is applicable to the following goods: bed linen, knitted or crocheted things of cotton; sheets (Zepol, n.d.). The rate of duty is 6 per cent. These goods fell under the code of 362 as per the US Textile and Apparel Category System. Figures ‘6302’ stand for ‘Bed linen, table linen, toilet linen and kitchen linen’. Figures ‘6302.10.00’ stand for ‘Bed linen, knitted or crocheted’. The last two figures ‘08’ stand for ‘Sheets (362)’.
There is a special convention that allows to use international custom documents for temporary importation, without any duties – the ATA (Admission Temporaire— Temporary Admission). It is a kind of ‘guarantee against the payment of customs duties that may become due on goods temporarily imported and not reexported’ (US Customs and Borders Protection, 2006). The USA has already accepted and widely implemented this convention. Egypt has accepted ATA convention but not realized it yet. Thus, preferences provided by the ATA cannot be used.
Import of bed sheets to the USA should be performed after receiving the so called Textile Visa. The purpose of this procedure is to exercise control over the textile imported into the USA. It represents a stamp endorsement on a shipping document. This document can be either export control license from the country of origin or an invoice on goods. It should be noted that the Textile Visa on bed sheets can be obtained via Electronic Visa Information System or ELVIS (US Customs and Borders Protection, 2006).
Indirect Marketing of Bed Sheets in the USA
This section will describe application of indirect marketing and direct distribution of Egyptian bed sheets on the territory of the USA. Indirect marketing implies absence of direct communication with potential and existing consumers of goods (Survey Gizmo, 2013). It is represented via social media blogs and articles in local and international magazines and newspapers. The most outstanding examples of social media networks, which could be used for the abovementioned purposes, are Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. These sources will contain information concerning the high quality and notable characteristics of the bed sheets from Egypt. The main goal of such marketing is to ‘build customer trust and loyalty, which allows to develop a good rapport with potential customers by not shoving pushy sales pitches on them when they are interacting with suppliers (Survey Gizmo, 2013). Special marketing and advertising companies will be involved in this process in order to show the abovementioned production in the best possible way.
The strategy of delegation distribution will be used for selling Egyptian bed sheets in the USA. The delegation of distribution of the product to other companies provides such a considerable benefit as better understanding of the local market. Local distributors have long experience of effective and efficient work on some particular territories with some particular audience. These companies know people’s perceptions, needs and wishes. Therefore, they can introduce Egyptian bed sheets in a better way and sell more goods. At the same time, working through distributing companies enables better understanding of the local market and its vulnerability. There will be a possibility to timely react on any changes and avoid any additional expenses.
It should be mentioned that there are different types of indirect distribution: via retailers; via representatives such as agents or brokers, and via distributors. Indirect distribution by retailers enables proposition of goods to a wide audience. Retailers can offer personal assistance and post-sales services to customers. Indirect distribution via agents and brokers provides such benefits as broad network of clients and the ability to learn precise information about local market and stand against competitors. Indirect distribution via distributors provides additional selling force of skilled personnel. In this essay, the emphasis will be put on indirect distribution via distributors. Special contracts concerning relations of the company under question and each distributor will be signed. Several distributors, which work in different parts of the USA, will offer the above mentioned goods. This will provide such a benefit as the ability to transport and distribute the production from locations where it is popular to locations where it is unpopular.
The following textile distribution companies can be used for indirect distribution of Egyptian bed sheets in the USA: Bellino Fine Lines, Le Vele, Tapestry Warehouse, Antique linens, and Windham Weavers. Lower prices and more preferable conditions will be offered to contractors who will accomplish the sales objectives.
Conclusion
This essay describes the process of transportation of Egyptian bed sheets to the USA. First of all, the choice of the country importer was described. Egypt is well known as a country where manufacturers produce high quality cotton. After that, the means of transportation – container transportation by ocean container line – was reported. This kind of transportation provides considerable benefits such as saving time and money due to the fast loading and discharging, and high speed of container ships. Ocean transportation is considered to be performed by ZIM container line. This company provides ZIM Container Service Atlantic of container carriage from the ports of the Mediterranean Sea to New York. Further, the choice of ports of loading and departure was explained. The port of loading in Egypt is Alexandria. It is one of the biggest container ports in the country. The port of discharging in the USA is the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is the biggest container port on the east coast of the country. In the next part of the essay, much attention was paid to description and application of Harmonized System and American regulatory requirements to Egyptian bed sheets. In addition, the processes of indirect marketing and indirect distribution were described. This essay depicts the whole process of transportation from the place of departure to the place of destination and realization in America for better understanding of the distinctive features of this process.
