FOB vs CIF: picking incoterms for a bulk salt order

For most bulk salt buyers, the incoterms conversation comes down to two options: FOB (Free On Board) and CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight). The difference isn't just paperwork — it changes who's on the hook for the ocean leg.

Under FOB, the supplier's responsibility ends once the container is loaded onto the vessel at the port of origin — Karachi or Port Qasim, for a Pakistan-sourced shipment. From that point, the buyer arranges and pays for ocean freight and insurance, and carries the risk during transit.

Under CIF, the supplier arranges and pays for freight and insurance to the destination port, folding that cost into the quoted price. The buyer's risk still technically transfers at the origin port under most interpretations of CIF, but the supplier is the one managing the shipping line relationship.

FOB tends to suit buyers who already have a freight forwarder and volume discounts with a carrier — they can usually beat a supplier's freight quote and want the control. CIF suits buyers ordering less frequently or without an existing logistics setup, since it turns a shipping problem into a single line-item price.

Either way, the quote should spell out exactly where responsibility changes hands and what's insured between there and the destination. That's a question worth asking before a price, not after a container is already at sea.