A cold room project in Vietnam is decided before the equipment is chosen — by whether the goods arrive under FORM E at 0–5% or under MFN rates several points higher, by whether the unit carries QCVN 18:2023 conformity, and by whether the crew on site is legally allowed to be there. We supply the panels, the units and the installation supervision, and we handle those three items as part of the order, not as the customer's problem.
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Under the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area, machinery and equipment imported into Vietnam with a valid FORM E certificate of origin enters at 0–5%. Without it, the same goods are assessed at MFN rates that commonly run 5 to 15 percentage points higher. On a 200,000 USD order that difference alone can exceed the price of the insulation panels.
Insulated panels are classified separately from the refrigeration equipment — typically under HS 3925 (plastic builders' ware), 7610 (aluminium structures) or 7308 (steel structures), depending on the facing material. The panel and the unit therefore need to be assessed as two lines, not one, because a rate that applies to the machine does not automatically apply to the wall.
| Item | What decides it | What we prepare |
|---|---|---|
| FORM E | Origin of goods, HS code, exporter registration | Certificate application, invoice and packing list that match the declared HS codes |
| Panel HS code | Facing material: steel, aluminium or plastic | Separate declaration lines for panel and equipment |
| Import VAT | Declared customs value | Invoice value stated once, consistently, across all documents |
Duty treatment depends on the HS code the Vietnamese customs broker applies and on FORM E being issued correctly. We prepare the documents; the final classification is confirmed with your broker before shipment, not after arrival.
Refrigeration units that contain a compressor fall under QCVN 18:2023/BKHCN, the Vietnamese technical regulation on safety of refrigeration equipment, and require CR certification before they can be put into use. Commercial refrigerated display cabinets additionally fall under a mandatory energy labelling regime from 1 January 2026.
These are not documents that can be produced after the container clears the port. The design has to be right at the factory: the electrical configuration, the refrigerant and the pressure protection all appear in the test scope. We confirm the applicable scope with your importer while the order is being engineered, and prepare the technical file before shipment.
| Item | Position | Why it matters to the project |
|---|---|---|
| Import VAT | 8% currently applied (standard rate 10%) | Paid at import, recovered later by a VAT-registered importer — but it is cash out first |
| Settlement | VND–CNY direct settlement is available (central bank MOU and QR interoperability) | Removes one USD conversion and its cost; useful on small and mid-size orders |
| Payment terms | Normally 30% deposit with order, 70% before shipment; L/C at sight for larger projects | The deposit funds panel production; the balance releases the bill of lading |
Tax rates and settlement arrangements change with Vietnamese policy. We state what applies at the time of quotation and confirm it again at contract stage.
Panels ship in 40HQ containers, and panel length — not weight — is the constraint. A standard 40HQ takes panels up to about 11.8 m. Longer panels need an open-top container or break-bulk, and that decision has to be taken at the design stage, because it changes both the panel layout and the freight.
Panels are packed on edge with protected corners and loaded by length. Crushed panel edges are the most common transit damage on cold room shipments and cannot be repaired on site.
Installation is the stage where most Vietnam projects lose time. Chinese technicians cannot remain on site for the full construction period, because long-term site labour follows a different legal route. The workable arrangement is short-term technical supervision under a business visa: our engineers direct the installation, commission the system and train the customer's operators, while the physical work is carried out by a local crew.
| Our scope | Local scope the project needs |
|---|---|
| Installation drawings and sequencing | Crane or forklift for panel and unit lifting |
| Panel and door assembly supervision | Scaffolding and safe access |
| Piping, wiring check and pressure test | Temporary power and water |
| Commissioning and operator training | General labour for handling |
The local scope is frequently under-budgeted. A project that assumes technicians can be dispatched at short notice often pays for equipment standing idle while a crew is being assembled.
Shanke's reference projects are currently in China. The equipment and panel system supplied to Vietnam is identical to what those projects use — the same unit range, the same PU and PIR panels, the same control platform. A project in Vietnam therefore starts from a configuration already proven in operation, not from a first build.
The factory has been building refrigeration equipment since 2006, on 36 mu of land with over 20,000 m² of workshop, and manufactures the units (piston, parallel, screw and two-stage), the compressors inside them, the air coolers, the condensers, the PU and PIR panels and the PLC control. For a project in Vietnam this matters at the point of responsibility: panels and units come from one manufacturer, so room performance — door sealing, pull-down time, temperature uniformity — stays with one party instead of being divided between a panel supplier and an equipment supplier.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do you provide FORM E? | Yes. We apply for FORM E and issue the invoice and packing list to match the declared HS codes. The certificate is issued on the Chinese side; your broker applies the rate on the Vietnamese side. We ask for the destination port and the HS codes your broker intends to use before production starts. |
| Is QCVN 18 certification included? | The unit is engineered to the QCVN 18:2023 scope and we prepare the technical file. Certification and registration on the Vietnamese side are carried out with your importer, because the applicant must be a Vietnamese entity. We confirm the applicable scope with them while the order is being engineered. |
| Can you send an installation crew to Vietnam? | Yes, for short-term technical supervision under a business visa. We direct the installation and commission the system; the physical work is done by a local crew that the project provides. Long-term site labour is a different legal route and we do not pretend otherwise. |
| How long does shipping take to Ho Chi Minh? | Typically two to three weeks port to port from Shandong, plus inland haulage and clearance. Panel production is usually the longer part of the timeline, not the sea freight. |
| What is the smallest project you take? | A single room is fine — a blast freezer or a chilled store for one processor. What we do not do is supply panels alone with no engineering, because the room performance is set by the panel, the unit and the defrost cycle together. |
| Can you build to Vietnamese temperature requirements? | Yes. Room temperature is the starting point of the design, not a catalogue option. Tell us the product, the room temperature and the daily tonnage, and the room list follows from that. |
We will come back with the equipment selection, an indicative price and the conformity route for QCVN 18 — before you commit to a container.