About this calculator
Incoterms® are the standard rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that split the tasks between seller and buyer in the trade of goods: who books transport, who handles export and import clearance, who pays the costs at each point, and where the risk of loss or damage passes. The current version is Incoterms 2020 with 11 rules in four groups: E (EXW), F (FCA, FAS, FOB), C (CFR, CIF, CPT, CIP) and D (DAP, DPU, DDP).
The most common mistake is using FOB, CFR or CIF for containers. Those three rules were designed for sea transport where the seller actually loads the goods on board the vessel. A container is usually handed over at a terminal or depot long before it is loaded, so the seller carries risk during a period when it no longer controls the goods. For containers the ICC recommends the equivalents FCA, CPT and CIP.
This guide contains a 13-line cost and responsibility matrix for every rule, where risk passes, the insurance obligations (CIF at least ICC C, CIP at least ICC A since 2020) and an interactive chooser: answer a few questions about the mode, who books the freight and where risk should pass, then see the matching rule with its warnings. The matrix is an original educational summary, not the official ICC text; always write the full rule with its named place in your contract, for example "FCA Cikarang Dry Port, Incoterms® 2020".
Worked example
A furniture exporter in Jepara ships a 40HC container, the European buyer books the freight, and the old contract says "FOB Semarang". In the chooser: container cargo, freight booked by the buyer, handover on board → the result is FCA with a warning that FOB does not suit containers, with FOB as the alternative.
If instead the seller books freight and insurance while risk may pass in the origin country, the chooser suggests CIP (insurance at least ICC A), not CIF. In the matrix the difference between FAS and FOB shows on the loading on main carrier line: the buyer pays under FAS, the seller under FOB.
How to use it
Answer the chooser
Choose bulk/breakbulk or containers, who books the main freight and where risk should pass.
Read the suggested rule
See the matching rule, its warnings (for example FOB for containers) and the alternatives you can negotiate.
Compare in the matrix
Use the matrix to see who pays each cost line; tap a rule code for its risk and insurance details.