---
title: "What procedures need to be handled in advance for exporting various types of steel to avoid port detention and customs seizure risks?"
description: "Companies entering the steel export business for the first time often encounter problems such as port detention，customs seizure and approval delays due to incomplete documentation，and even face risks of tax refund failure and cost overruns. In response to different regulatory requirements for ordinary and special steel products，it is necessary to complete full-chain compliance procedures such as document review，qualification approval and customs declaration filing in advance，clarify the connecti..."
url: "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/export-steel-procedures-avoid-port-detention-customs-seizure.html"
language: "en"
type: "Q&A"
category: "Freight Forwarding Q&A"
datePublished: "2026-10-04"
dateModified: "2026-10-04"
brand: "Zhongshen Trading China"
answerCount: 8
---

# What procedures need to be handled in advance for exporting various types of steel to avoid port detention and customs seizure risks?

## Question

 I am the foreign trade manager of a medium-sized domestic steel processing factory. Last month, I tried to export 200 tons of ordinary carbon steel to Germany for the first time, but the goods were detained at Shanghai Port for 3 days due to incomplete documentation, which incurred extra container detention fees of more than RMB 20,000. Now I am about to export 50 tons of special alloy steel to the United States, and I am very worried. I want to know if the export procedures for ordinary steel and special steel are completely different? Are there any approval links that are easy to miss? Also, how to handle the procedures to avoid port detention and customs seizure again, and successfully get the export tax refund at the same time? After all, the profit of this order is already very thin, and any more problems will lead to a loss. 

## Answers
                            
### Answer 1 — Best Answer

First of all，you need to complete the refined review of pre-documents: for ordinary steel，prepare **commercial invoice，packing list，ocean bill of lading，certificate of origin** in advance，while special alloy steel requires additional **export license (mandatory for controlled steel products)，material certificate，third-party inspection report**. You need to ensure that information such as steel grade，composition，weight on all documents is completely consistent，so as to avoid customs inspection triggered by discrepancy between documents and goods.

Seamless connection shall be ensured at core nodes: complete customs declaration pre-entry within 3 working days after stocking is completed，and submit electronic documents to the local customs at the same time，if exporting to the United States，declare through the AMS system 72 hours in advance，for special steel，complete the export license approval before stocking，and reserve an approval period of at least 15 working days to avoid shipping schedule cancellation caused by qualification delay.

Abnormal contingency plans shall be formulated in advance: in case of customs inspection，provide supporting materials such as material certificate and inspection report as soon as possible，if there is a document error，apply for document deletion and re-declaration immediately，and coordinate with the shipping company to extend the free storage period at the same time，for the tax refund link，ensure the "three-stream consistency" of customs declaration form，foreign exchange receipt voucher and value-added tax invoice，and submit pre-declaration to the tax department in advance.

Final compliance implementation: collect tax refund vouchers in time after the goods are loaded on board，and follow up the document transmission for overseas customs clearance simultaneously to ensure that overseas customers can complete import customs clearance smoothly. All documents shall be kept for at least 5 years throughout the process for inspection by customs and tax authorities.

**status:** accepted
**Author:** Andy Guo
**Date:** 2026-10-05

### Answer 2

For steel export customs declaration, attention shall be paid to the details of the price review link: the customs will take the recent export transaction price of the same type of steel as the price review reference. If the declared price deviates from the market price by ±20%, price query will be triggered.

At this time, supporting materials such as purchase contract, cost accounting sheet, raw material invoice shall be provided to avoid the customs directly taxing according to the price limit. In addition, when declaring special steel, the commodity code shall be filled in accurately.

Incorrect code classification will not only lead to wrong tax rate application, but also trigger regulatory inspection. You need to confirm the code through the customs pre-classification system in advance, or entrust a professional institution to issue a pre-classification opinion.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Michael Zhang
**Date:** 2026-10-05

### Answer 3

The logistics link of steel export shall focus on cargo right control and container detention fee management: ordinary steel is mostly transported by bulk cargo or full container. For full container transportation, take photos of the seal immediately after loading, and enter the seal number into the ocean bill of lading simultaneously to avoid cargo right disputes; if you choose LCL, confirm the free storage period of the yard in advance. Generally, the free storage period for bulk cargo at Shanghai Port is 7 days.

For special steel, due to its heavy weight and slow loading and unloading, you need to negotiate with the yard to extend the free storage period by 2-3 days in advance to avoid extra container detention fees. In addition, for goods exported to the United States, confirm the AMS declaration time limit of the shipping company in advance to ensure that the declaration is completed 72 hours before sailing, otherwise loading will be refused.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Kevin Lin
**Date:** 2026-10-04

### Answer 4

Tax planning for steel export shall focus on the connection between VAT deferral and export tax refund: if exporting to EU countries, you can apply for VAT deferral, no need to pay the import country's value-added tax at the time of export, and declare tax after the goods are sold, which can ease cash flow pressure; for export tax refund, ensure that the commodity code and quantity on the steel input invoice completely match those on the export customs declaration form.

If there is batch export, file with the tax department in advance to avoid tax refund delay caused by the "one document corresponding to one shipment" rule. In addition, if special steel belongs to the category of high-tech products, it can enjoy a higher tax refund rate, and you need to apply for high-tech product identification from the science and technology department in advance.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Daniel Xu
**Date:** 2026-10-04

### Answer 5

The foreign exchange receipt and payment link of steel export shall strictly comply with cross-border payment compliance requirements: if exporting to the United States, ensure that the transaction code in the SWIFT message is consistent with the commodity code on the export customs declaration form, so as to avoid inspection by the foreign exchange bureau due to inconsistent transaction codes; if RMB settlement is adopted, payment shall be made through the CIPS system, and relevant vouchers of RMB settlement shall be kept at the same time for tax refund inspection by the tax department. In addition, if related party transactions are involved, ensure that the transaction price conforms to the arm's length principle, avoid being identified as profit shifting by the tax department, and prepare related party transaction pricing documents in advance.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Victor Sun
**Date:** 2026-10-04

### Answer 6

Legal risks of steel export shall focus on contract terms and intellectual property protection: when signing an export contract, clarify the quality standards, inspection clauses, and breach liability of steel, especially for special steel, attach the material certificate and inspection report as contract annexes to avoid payment refusal caused by quality disputes; if exporting to European and American countries, ensure that the trademarks and patents of steel do not infringe, and you can query the trademark registration status through the local intellectual property office in advance to avoid the goods being detained in the import country. In addition, force majeure clauses shall be added to the contract to clarify the responsibility division for extreme situations such as epidemics and port strikes.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Lucas Liu
**Date:** 2026-10-04

### Answer 7

On-site inspection for steel export shall be prepared in advance: for ordinary steel inspection, the customs mainly checks quantity, weight and appearance, so prepare weighing slips and loading lists in advance; for special steel, composition and material will be checked, so print and stamp the third-party inspection report and material certificate in advance, and submit them to the inspection officer on site. If the customs requires sampling inspection, cooperate with sampling and pay the inspection fee.

The inspection period is generally 3-7 days, you need to negotiate with the shipping company to delay the shipping schedule or reallocate other ships in advance to avoid port detention fees. In addition, ensure that the steel is firmly fixed during loading to avoid appearance damage caused by displacement during transportation, which may lead to unqualified inspection.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Jason Wu
**Date:** 2026-10-04

### Answer 8

Tax refund audit for steel export shall focus on "three-stream consistency": that is, the information of capital flow (foreign exchange receipt voucher), invoice flow (input invoice), and goods flow (customs declaration form) is completely matched. If there is inconsistency of the three streams, the tax refund application will be rejected by the tax department.

Sort out all documents in advance, including purchase contracts, export contracts, customs declaration forms, foreign exchange receipt slips, input invoices, bind and keep them per each shipment; if there is entrusted processing, provide supporting materials such as entrusted processing contracts and processing fee invoices to avoid being identified as "false self-operation, real agency". In addition, complete the tax refund declaration within 90 days after export. If you cannot declare on time due to special circumstances, apply to the tax department for extension in advance.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Eric Zhou
**Date:** 2026-10-04

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