Two containers of Valencia can leave Alexandria on the same vessel under completely different commercial arrangements. One is sold at a firm price agreed before loading. The other travels on consignment, and nobody knows what it is worth until it has been sold at destination. The fruit is identical. The risk, the paperwork and the cash flow are not.
Fixed price
A firm price is agreed per carton or per tonne against a written specification, an Incoterm and a payment structure, usually a deposit with the balance against documents. Once the specification is met, the exporter has been paid and the market risk sits entirely with the importer. If the destination market falls between booking and arrival, the importer absorbs it. If it rises, the importer keeps the gain.
This model suits an importer who is selling forward, supplying a retail programme at an agreed shelf price, or working to a landed cost that has to be known in advance. It requires a specification tight enough to settle a dispute, because with a fixed price the only remaining argument is whether the fruit met what was written.
Consignment
On consignment the fruit is shipped without a settled price. The receiver sells it, deducts freight, clearance, handling, commission and any agreed costs, and remits the balance with an account of sales. The exporter carries the market risk all the way to the final sale, and often carries the working capital for six to ten weeks as well.
Consignment appears most often at the two ends of a season, when volumes are unpredictable, and on wholesale market business where the price genuinely cannot be fixed in advance. It is also where most disputes in this trade come from, because the exporter has no visibility of the sale and the account of sales arrives long after the fruit has gone.
What decides the choice
- Programme certainty. A retail or foodservice programme with a set shelf price needs a fixed price behind it.
- Season position. Early and late fruit, where volumes and quality vary week to week, is more often consigned.
- Relationship history. Consignment is a credit decision as much as a commercial one, and few Egyptian exporters will consign to a first-time buyer.
- Working capital. Fixed price moves cash to the exporter early. Consignment leaves it with the receiver until the sale settles.
- Quality confidence. Fruit with a solid arrival record justifies a firm price. Fruit with an uncertain arrival profile invites a consignment structure, which is exactly why it should be treated with caution.
If you do work on consignment
Put the terms in writing before the container loads. Agree the commission percentage, the exact cost lines that may be deducted, the deadline for the account of sales, the deadline for remittance, and whether a minimum guaranteed price applies. Ask for supporting sale documentation, not a summary. A consignment agreement with no reporting deadline is not an agreement.
Whichever model you use, the pricing conversation is easier once the specification is settled. Our note on citrus maturity standards covers the quality basis, and the orange sizing and packing reference sets out the counts and carton formats a price should be quoted against.
Nile Prime sells the 2026/2027 citrus season on firm price terms, quoted per carton against a written specification, FOB or CFR Incoterms 2020 from Alexandria, Damietta or Sokhna.
Ask for a quotation
For firm season pricing on Navel, Valencia or Murcott, message the Nile Prime team on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918 with your market, volume and pack format.