The abbreviation CAF stands for Currency Adjustment Factor and describes a special surcharge. The CAF is charged when calculating the Ocean Freight for the consideration of exchange rate fluctuations. Therefore, it is important to consider currency fluctuations if the freight in question is to be paid in a foreign currency.

Simply explained, the CAF serves to cover the currency risk. A currency risk arises, for example, because the tariff currency of sea freight always varies in relation to the US dollar. For many years now, the US dollar has primarily served as the lead currency in international sea freight and is therefore quoted in every country. This also means that invoices and all other costs are usually quoted in US dollars as well as in the local currency itself. This gives customers an excellent overview.

More Security

By charging the CAFor the surcharge, the currency risk is always charged as a lump sum. The exchange rate naturally changes daily.

This means that the daily fluctuations are not taken into account due to the flat-rate calculation of the surcharge. The main purpose of this is to significantly speed up and simplify the process.

The CAF is usually a percentage surcharge on the corresponding sea freight. Depending on the provider and freight, for instance, this could be 15 percent of the sea freight itself. The percentage should be contractually agreed in advance.

Special Regulations

Furthermore, special surcharges may be levied for specific destinations. This is particularly the case when it comes to Transport or trade with countries whose national currencies fluctuate greatly. This is intended to significantly increase security. The strongly fluctuating exchange rates also have a major impact on the handling costs at the port of destination concerned.