Used Komatsu PC350-7 Import South Africa: Durban Landed Cost
A used Komatsu PC350-7 import South Africa file should be read as a sequence of gates, not as a single price. The catalogue band is 38,000–40,000 USD; duty is given as 0% and VAT as 15%; Durban is the discharge port, and the machine is a 30–40 tonne class crawler that needs a heavy-freight plan. Each gate below can stop the deal or change the number. The assumptions are marked, so you can replace them with your own quotes without rebuilding the logic.
Gate 1: the used Komatsu PC350-7 import South Africa budget
Start with the band and then refuse to treat it as a budget. The 38,000–40,000 USD range is a model reference at the export point. It does not include ocean freight, insurance, VAT, port charges, clearing or the inland leg from Durban. It also does not include repairs that the inspection may reveal.
A budget built only from the band is not a budget; it is a wish with a currency. Put the band in row one and leave rows two to six empty until quotes arrive. The band also does not tell you whether the unit is complete; a missing bucket or a removed counterweight is a separate purchase and a separate line.
Gate 2: 0% duty and what the 15% VAT does to cash
The brief gives 0% duty. The VAT line is 15%, and it is charged as cash at import even if the importer may later recover it. This worksheet assumes the VAT base is the CIF value plus duty plus the levy lines; with duty at zero, freight and levies still sit inside the base. Confirm the treatment with a customs broker before the entry is submitted.
If the importer is a registered VAT vendor, recovery is an accounting question for the importer's tax adviser. It can change the net cost of the project, but it does not remove the cash needed at the port. Plan the cash and the recovery separately. A recovery claim also depends on a valid tax invoice and an entry in the importer's name, so confirm the invoicing entity before the proforma is issued.
Gate 3: import duty excavator South Africa is only one row
The import duty excavator South Africa line is 0% in this brief. That is welcome, and it is also a distraction. The rows that remain are freight, port charges, clearing, VAT and inland transport. A zero duty rate does not make an import cheap; it removes one multiplier from a stack that has several.
Ask the broker for the full charge schedule, not just the duty rate. A file with zero duty can still attract handling, storage and documentation charges that were never in the seller's quote. The used Komatsu PC350-7 South Africa market has no duty line in this brief, but it still has a VAT line and a port file.
Gate 4: landed cost Durban depends on the discharge plan
The landed cost Durban figure is only as good as the discharge plan behind it. A 30–40 tonne machine needs a method that the port and the receiving yard can actually handle. Ask for a flat-rack, roll-on/roll-off or breakbulk quote against the measured unit, and ask each quote to name the discharge plan and the port charges it includes.
Do not compare an ocean rate that excludes port handling with one that includes it. Put both on the same scope, then compare. The cheapest headline can be the most expensive file. If the receiving terminal cannot lift or stack the machine, the ocean rate is irrelevant.
Gate 5: the used Komatsu PC350-7 import South Africa inspection
Inspection is the gate that protects the other five. Ask for a cold start with the exhaust visible, a hydraulic cycle at operating temperature, travel both ways, undercarriage measurements and a plate-and-meter photograph. Check the boom foot, arm, bucket linkage and turntable for cracks and repairs.
For the used Komatsu PC350-7 import South Africa buyer, the transport dimensions belong in the same report. A machine that passes the mechanical check but cannot be loaded on the quoted method has failed the commercial check.
Gate 6: documents, payment and the walk-away point
The proforma should name the model, serial, price, Incoterm and Durban. Confirm the inspection scope before the balance. After shipment, match the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin to the machine. Set a walk-away point before negotiation starts: a repair estimate, a freight method or a document gap that you will not accept.
The company is an independent exporter with no owned yard and no dealer role. The machine is inspected where it stands, and the quote can be FOB or CIF. Independence is not a guarantee; the documents and the inspection are the controls.
A decision table, not a single total
The table keeps the assumptions visible. Only the band, 0% duty and 15% VAT come from the brief. Freight and insurance are assumed at 7,500 USD and levies plus clearing at 2,200 USD; inland transport is excluded. Replace both assumptions before you approve a payment.
| Row | Low case (USD) | High case (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| FOB band | 38,000 | 40,000 |
| Assumed ocean freight and insurance | 7,500 | 7,500 |
| CIF, assumed | 45,500 | 47,500 |
| Duty at 0% | 0 | 0 |
| Assumed levies and clearing | 2,200 | 2,200 |
| VAT base, assumed | 47,700 | 49,700 |
| VAT at 15% | 7,155 | 7,455 |
| Landed at Durban, excluding inland | 54,855 | 57,155 |
The landed spread is 2,300 USD against a 2,000 USD band. The extra 300 USD is VAT on the higher machine value. Compare that with the freight line: a change of loading method can swamp the entire band. On this class, the freight decision deserves more attention than the sticker.
The three totals to keep separate
Keep three totals in the file: the machine total, the port total and the yard total. The machine total is the FOB or CIF price. The port total adds freight, levies, clearing and VAT. The yard total adds inland transport, unloading and any immediate repair. Mixing them produces a single number that cannot be audited and cannot be compared with another offer.
When a seller quotes a landed price, ask which of the three totals it represents. A landed price that stops at the port gate is not landed for your yard.
After landing: the cost that is not customs
The machine still has to reach the work. That means a truck, a route survey, permits where required, unloading equipment and possibly a low-bed trailer. On a 30–40 tonne unit, the receiving yard needs to confirm it can lift and move the machine before the vessel arrives. A yard that cannot take delivery turns a clean import into a storage problem.
Add the first repair reserve as a separate line. It is not a customs charge and it is not part of the seller's price, but it is part of the cash you need in the first month.
Why the 40ft reference does not transfer to a 30-tonne unit
Container rates are often quoted as a 40ft reference because that is how smaller equipment moves. It is not a safe default for a 30–40 tonne excavator. The unit must be measured, the boom and track configuration confirmed, and the lifting plan agreed. A 40ft rate that ignores those facts is a number for a different machine.
Use the 40ft figure only as a comparison, and ask for a heavy-freight quote on the method that can carry the measured unit.
What would make the file a no
Walk away if the seller cannot produce a plate photo, if the inspection is refused before a deposit, or if the freight quote does not name the discharge plan. Walk away if the levy schedule arrives only after the vessel sails, or if the documents do not match the serial. None of these is a price problem; each is a control problem that a discount cannot fix.
A good Durban file is dull: measured machine, itemised charges, matching documents and a payment sequence tied to inspection. Dull files land.
FAQ: used Komatsu PC350-7 import South Africa
Is 38,000–40,000 USD the landed cost in Durban?
No. It is a model band before freight, VAT, port charges, clearing and inland transport. The decision table shows how far the total moves once assumptions are added.
Is duty really 0% for this import?
The brief gives 0%. The classification and the entry still have to be confirmed by the broker; a zero rate applies only to an accepted entry.
Can the used Komatsu PC350-7 import South Africa move in a 40ft box?
Do not assume it. The 40ft reference is for smaller equipment; measure the machine and ask for a flat-rack, RoRo or breakbulk quote.
Can a VAT vendor recover the 15%?
Recovery is an accounting question for the importer's tax adviser. It may change the net cost, but the cash is still paid at the port.
Who owns the machine before shipment?
We do not. We are an independent exporter, not a dealer, and we do not own the yards. Inspection happens where the unit stands.
Begin with the PC350-7 model reference, then use the used Komatsu PC350-7 import South Africa enquiry page for the current file. The Dar es Salaam guide shows a heavier machine on the same gated method.
The band starts the file; the gates decide it.
Komatsu buyer guides
Price bands, inspection and transport for the models buyers ask about.