Nigeria
Self-loading concrete mixers, landed in Nigeria with SONCAP handled.
Delivered to Apapa, Tin Can or your port of choice, CIF or DDP. We obtain the Product Certificate before your bank opens the Form M — which is the step that decides whether your machine sails this month or next quarter.
First reply within 24 hours, China time (UTC+8), Monday to Saturday.
The sequence that stops most imports
No Product Certificate, no Form M.
Nigerian machinery imports rarely fail on the machine. They fail on the order in which four documents have to exist — and the first one is the exporter's job, in China, before you can do anything at your bank.
Your bank cannot open the Form M until the Product Certificate exists. If your supplier has not started it, your file is stuck and nobody is going to tell you why.
- 01
We apply for the Product Certificate (PC) in China
The PC is issued against the machine and its full 10-digit HS code, before anything is shipped. Since 27 March 2025 every application goes through the e-SONCAP portal with the complete code — the paper route no longer exists.
- 02
Your bank cannot open the Form M until that PC exists
This is the trap. The Form M is your side of the transaction, opened electronically through your own bank on the central bank’s trade portal, and it will not go through without a valid Product Certificate behind it. If your supplier has not started the PC, your Form M is blocked and you will not be told why.
- 03
The SONCAP Certificate (SC) is issued against the Form M
The SC is per shipment, and its application needs the e-Form M, the final invoice and your RC number and TIN. It comes after the Form M, not before.
- 04
Only then is the machine loaded
Shipping ahead of the certificate does not save time. It converts a paperwork delay into a destination-inspection problem with the machine already on the water.
What it costs at SON
The certificate fees, published
So you can see what sits inside a landed quotation instead of taking the total on trust.
- Processing is quoted by SON at 96 hours as standard, and 24 hours where the file is complete. The file being complete is the part we are paid to get right.
- These are the Standards Organisation of Nigeria’s published charges, reproduced so you can see what sits inside a quotation. They are not our fees and we do not mark them up as a separate line.
- We build the certificate cost into the CIF or DDP figure at the quotation stage, rather than raising it after you have committed.
| Certificate | Official fee | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| Product Certificate PC1 — unregistered product | USD 500 | 6 months, single use |
| Product Certificate PC2 — registered product | USD 1,000 | 12 months, multiple use |
| Product Certificate PC3 — licensed product | USD 2,000 | 12 months, multiple use |
| SONCAP Certificate SC | USD 350 | One shipment |
What we will not claim
Nobody should tell you SONCAP does not apply
Two official readings of the regulated-products rule contradict each other. That is a reason to confirm, not a reason to guess in your favour.
SON’s rule is that imported products are regulated unless they appear on an exemption list. The regulated-products list hosted by the central bank dates from 2006 and does not name the HS chapters that cover this machine. The two readings do not agree.
So we do not tell you SONCAP is not required, and you should be wary of any supplier who does. Before we quote, we take the exact 10-digit HS code for your machine to an appointed inspection agent — Cotecna, Bureau Veritas or Intertek — and get its regulatory status confirmed in writing.
One exemption you will probably be offered and probably cannot use: industrial machinery imported by a bona fide manufacturer registered with the national manufacturers’ association can move on a SONCAP Import Permit. An equipment dealer or a trading importer does not qualify. If you are a registered manufacturer importing for your own use, tell us and we will structure it that way.
Payment
30% is not us being cautious. It is your central bank.
The rule that decides your deposit is written in the CBN Foreign Exchange Manual, not in a supplier's terms.
- 01
30% deposit, not 50%
The CBN Foreign Exchange Manual in force since 1 June 2026 caps advance payment on a physical import at 30% of FOB value, raised from the previous 15%. A Chinese supplier asking a Nigerian buyer for 50% up front is asking for something your bank is not permitted to send.
- 02
Balance against a copy bill of lading
The remaining 70% is settled against the copy bill of lading, so the machine exists and is on the water before the majority of the money moves.
- 03
Or an irrevocable letter of credit
An L/C at sight works well on multi-unit orders and on the larger machines, and puts the mechanism in your bank’s hands rather than ours.
- 04
Form M validity is on your side
A Form M is mandatory above USD 1,000 and is opened before shipment. Machinery carries 365 days of validity where general goods get 180, and it can be extended — so the certificate sequence above fits inside it comfortably if it is started on time.
The machines
1.0 to 4.5 m³ discharge, one operator
It drives to the aggregate, loads itself, mixes on the move and discharges where you point it. No batching plant, no mixer truck, no crew.
- SLM-10
- Discharge
- 1.0 m³
Two units per 40HQ container — roughly half the per-unit ocean freight of a flat-rack shipment.
Full specification on request.
- SLM-18
- Discharge
- 1.6-1.8 m³
- Rated power
- 78 kW / 105 hp
- SLM-24
- Discharge
- 2.4 m³
- Rated power
- 78 kW / 105 hp
Full specification on request.
- SLM-35
- Rated power
- 85 kW / 114 hp
Full specification on request.
- SLM-40
- Discharge
- 3.8-4.0 m³
- Rated power
- 91 kW / 122 hp
Full specification on request.
- SLM-45
- Discharge
- 4.0-4.5 m³
- Rated power
- 91 kW / 122 hp
Full specification on request.
Straight answers
Three numbers we will not print
Each of them moves, and a stale figure on a website is worse than no figure at all.
- 01
The 4% FOB customs surcharge
It was introduced, withdrawn and re-introduced within a single year and then suspended again. We confirm whether it applies in the week we quote rather than printing a rate here that may be wrong by the time you read it.
- 02
Duty and levies on your exact code
These follow the 10-digit classification, and the classification is confirmed with an inspection agent before we quote. We would rather tell you the number once and be right than tell you early and be wrong.
- 03
Machine prices
We do not publish them. What you get instead is a landed figure to your port that includes freight, the certificate and the export documents — the only number that is comparable between one supplier and another.
Questions
Asked by Nigerian buyers
My bank says my Form M cannot be opened. Why?
The most common cause on a machinery import from China is that the Product Certificate does not exist yet. The PC is the supplier’s job and it is applied for in China; your bank will not open the Form M without it, and it will not usually tell you that this is the reason.
If you are already in that position, send us the machine details and the HS code you were given. We can tell you where in the sequence the file has stalled, whether or not you buy from us.
Can you ship without SONCAP to save time?
No. A shipment arriving without the certificate is a destination-inspection problem at your cost, and it is slower and more expensive than the certificate would have been. We will not structure an order that way.
How much deposit will you ask for?
30% by T/T against the proforma invoice, with the balance against a copy bill of lading. That is not a negotiating position, it is the ceiling your central bank permits on an advance payment for a physical import.
An irrevocable letter of credit at sight is also accepted, and is usually the better structure for more than one machine.
Which port do you deliver to?
Apapa and Tin Can are the usual entries for containerised and out-of-gauge machinery, and we can quote to another Nigerian port if that is where your clearing agent works.
Tell us the port and whether there is inland delivery after it. A CIF figure and a DDP figure are different numbers and we would rather quote you the right one.
Do you sell used machines?
No, new only. Nigeria restricts the import of used motor vehicles beyond a manufacturing-age limit, and depending on how a self-loading mixer is classified that restriction can apply. Buying new avoids the argument entirely.
Are you a manufacturer?
No. We are an export house working with plants in China’s construction-machinery manufacturing base. We do not own production and we do not claim to. Our registered company details and the public registry link are in the footer of this page.
Send us the port and the quantity
You get a CIF or DDP figure to Apapa, Tin Can or wherever your agent clears, with the certificate and the export documents inside it — and a straight answer about where your Form M currently stands.