Changing a part-load order after confirmation is normal and most suppliers expect it, but every type of change has a cut-off point and the cost rises sharply once that point passes. A quantity adjustment made ten days before gate-in costs nothing. The same adjustment made the morning the truck is loading costs a repalletised load, a revised packing list and possibly a missed sailing. Knowing where each deadline sits is what separates a flexible buyer from an expensive one.
What can still be changed, and how late?
Deadlines below are counted back from gate-in, which is normally two to three days before the vessel sails. They assume a shared reefer with three to six buyers, which is the case where changes are hardest, because your amendment moves somebody else’s pallets too.
| Change | Latest point | Cost if later |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity up or down within 10% | 72 hours before gate-in | Usually absorbed if space allows |
| Quantity change above 10% | 7 days before gate-in | Repricing, the load may need rebalancing |
| Swap one product for another | 7 days before gate-in | Only if the set point still works for the whole load |
| Change size or count | 72 hours before gate-in | Subject to what the grading line actually produced |
| Change carton format | 10 days before gate-in | Stock-dependent, changes pallet maths |
| Printed or private label cartons | 21 to 30 days before gate-in | Print run lead time, no late option |
| Adhesive labels and lot codes | 5 days before gate-in | Relabelling charge per carton |
| Change destination port | Before booking confirmation | New booking, possible loss of the slot |
| Change Incoterm | Before booking confirmation | Freight and insurance both reprice |
| Consignee or notify party details | Before the bill of lading is issued | Amendment fee after issue |
Why swapping a product is harder than changing the quantity
A shared reefer runs on one temperature. Replacing two pallets of citrus at 5 C with two pallets of sweet potato at 13 C does not affect your goods alone, it makes the container impossible to set correctly for anybody. Swaps within a temperature band are usually straightforward. Swaps across bands are refused, and refusal is the right answer. The compatibility rules are in temperature and ethylene compatibility in a mixed reefer.
Every change is a pallet maths change
Cutting your line by four cartons sounds trivial and is, provided the pallet still builds to a full tier. Cutting it by a third leaves a half-height pallet that either travels with a void, which is a stability risk, or gets rebuilt, which costs labour and delays the whole load. When you need to reduce, reduce by whole layers rather than by carton count and tell the supplier which layer you are dropping. The arithmetic is set out in pallet space planning in a mixed reefer.
How to send an amendment so it is actioned the same day
Reply on the original order thread rather than opening a new one, quote the proforma number, and state the change as a replacement line rather than a description. Write the line you want to end up with, in full, with product, variety, size or count, carton format, number of cartons and pallet count. Confirm whether the delivery week is fixed or can move. An amendment written that way is repriced in an hour. An amendment written as a paragraph of prose takes a day of questions, and on a shared container a day is often the whole margin you had. The timeline every change sits inside is in how a mixed container comes together, day by day.
Peivana is the supplier, not a neutral broker. The deadlines above are our own working cut-offs and other Egyptian suppliers will differ, so confirm them against your proforma rather than assuming they are standard.
To amend a confirmed order, check whether a change is still possible before a sailing, or get a same-day quote on a revised part-load, message Peivana on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918 with your proforma number and the revised line.