From Korea to the Balkans: Routes and Cost Simulation

In our last post we walked the route — meeting our partners across the Balkans and how the car actually travels from Korea. The question every dealer asked next was the practical one: so what does it all add up to? (For the general picture beyond the Balkans, see our complete cost breakdown from auction to port.)

Here's the honest answer, itemized. We'll follow one car on the Rotterdam route, from Korea to the ground in the Balkans, and show every euro along the way. The figures below are an illustrative example on a €20,000 car; your real numbers will move with the vehicle, the freight rate, and the exchange rate, but the shape stays the same.

Two routes in: Rotterdam or Durrës

A car from Korea reaches the Balkans by one of two sea routes. Which one fits depends on where the car is going.

Transit times are approximate and vary by carrier, route, and season.

The cost breakdown below follows the Rotterdam route, where the car clears EU customs in the Netherlands. The Durrës route is covered further down.

Cost breakdown

We group it into four stages: the car in Korea, the ocean freight, customs, and final delivery. Each stage ends with a running subtotal, so you can see exactly where the number comes from.

Illustrative example built on LMN's pricing model. Figures rounded to the euro; VAT shown at the Netherlands rate because this car clears customs in Rotterdam.

Two things that move the total. The VAT rate follows the country where the car clears customs — 21% in the Netherlands via Rotterdam, while a car cleared in Bulgaria would be figured at Bulgaria's 20%. And duty and VAT are calculated on the pre-customs value (car + freight), not the sticker price. Rates and rules change, so confirm the current duty, VAT, and homologation requirements with a licensed customs broker before you commit.

The Durrës route

Durrës is Albania's port on the Adriatic, and the most direct way in for cars bound for Albania and Kosovo.

Unlike Rotterdam, Durrës takes cars both by RoRo and by container:

• RoRo (roll-on/roll-off — the car is driven onto the ship) — about 35 days, with sailings about twice a month. It costs a bit more per car, but a single car can ship on its own: you don't need three cars to fill a container to bring the shipping cost down.

• Container — about 2.5 months, with sailings about every two weeks. Cheaper per car when the container is shared, as in the cost breakdown above.

• Albania — the car arrives at Durrës, and that's the destination.

• Kosovo — the car continues inland by road from Durrës, mostly within a day.

• Bulgaria and other EU countries in the Balkans — can also be reached overland from Durrës, as an alternative to the Rotterdam route.

The first two stages of the breakdown — the car in Korea and the ocean freight — work the same way on this route; only the port changes. What changes more is customs: a car coming in through Durrës is cleared in Albania, which is not in the EU, so Albanian import taxes apply instead of the EU duty and VAT shown in the Rotterdam example. If you're weighing Durrës against Rotterdam for a specific car, we'll price both routes for you.

Customs clearance: do it yourself, or use an agency?

On either route, the car doesn't just arrive — someone has to clear it through customs: classify the vehicle, file the duty and VAT correctly, and get it released so it can move on. Get it wrong and a car can sit at the port for days; get it right and it keeps moving. You have two ways to handle that step — and to minimize surprises and get the car to your lot or your customer faster, we recommend using a customs agency.

Clearing it yourself saves the fee but needs real experience in the country of clearance — and in the EU, a customs registration (an EORI number). A filing mistake is what keeps a car parked at the port. The agency fee itself isn't fixed: it varies by agency and by how many cars share the container, so the per-car cost usually drops as the container fills.

Our partners in Rotterdam and Durrës

Rotterdam — for cars coming through Rotterdam we take the agency route, working closely with Marlog Car Handling, the customs agency that handles clearance. That's the €600 line above: a predictable cost, with someone accountable on the ground.

Durrës — for cars coming through Durrës we work closely with Albspeed, based at the port of Durrës. They handle port support and documents, customs clearance, and delivery onward from Durrës, including to Kosovo.

Contact us and we'll connect you with our partner at either port.

Try it with your own numbers

Change any field to estimate the importing price for a different car, freight rate, or clearance country. Duty and VAT recalculate automatically.

Want the trip that started all this? Read LMN in the Balkans: meeting our partners in person, or see how the work behind the car gets done in how LMN secondary inspection works.