What Is an FCO (Full Corporate Offer)?
In one line
An FCO — Full Corporate Offer — is the seller’s formal offer to sell: product specification, quantity, price, Incoterms, delivery schedule, payment terms and a validity period, on the seller’s letterhead over an authorised signature. It is the seller-side counterpart of the buyer’s ICPO.
What an FCO is
When a buyer has expressed a specific requirement, the seller responds with a Full Corporate Offer. The point of the document is to be complete enough that the buyer can act on it — price freight against it, take it to a bank, or accept it and move to contract.
An FCO is normally an offer rather than a concluded contract, and most carry a validity period and language making them subject to final contract. Whether any particular FCO creates obligations on acceptance is a question of its wording and its governing law, which is worth a lawyer's eye on a large cargo.
What belongs in an FCO
- Seller identity — full legal entity, registration number, registered address.
- Origin — country and, where it matters, the producer or refinery.
- Specification — against a recognised standard, with the guaranteed parameters stated.
- Quantity — per shipment and total, with tolerance.
- Incoterm and port — FOB at a named load port, or CIF/CFR at a named discharge port.
- Delivery schedule — first shipment window and the cadence after it.
- Price — fixed, or a benchmark plus or minus a differential, with the benchmark named.
- Payment terms — the instrument, and what documents trigger payment.
- Inspection — the appointed inspector and whether load-port or discharge-port results govern.
- Validity — the date the offer lapses.
Soft offer vs full corporate offer
A soft offer is indicative — the seller is gauging interest and terms can move. An FCO is meant to hold for its validity period. The difference matters commercially: you can price freight and approach a bank against a firm offer, but doing so against a soft one wastes everyone's time if the price moves.
Treat an offer as soft, whatever it is labelled, if the price has no basis, the validity is open-ended, or the loading port is unnamed.
The single most common problem with FCOs is provenance. An FCO that has been forwarded through several intermediaries, each adding a commission layer, often traces back to a seller who never controlled the cargo. Ask what the offering entity’s relationship to the goods actually is — title holder, mandated seller, or agent — and ask for evidence of it. "Proof of product" documents circulated without a verifiable source prove nothing.
How to check an FCO
- Verify the entity. Registration number against the registry; directors and beneficial owners against the register.
- Establish the relationship to the cargo. Producer, title holder, mandated seller or agent — and on what document.
- Test the specification. It should match a real standard. Cross-reference grades between GOST, ASTM, ISO, GB and EN where the counterparty works to a different system.
- Sanity-check the logistics. The load port should make sense for the stated origin, and the vessel size should be one that port can take.
- Check the payment instrument. Confirm your bank will actually handle it before you agree to it.
- Screen for sanctions. The seller, its owners, and where relevant the origin and the vessel.
Where Lodfy fits
The document is only ever as good as the company behind it. Lodfy verifies the company itself — KYB on the entity, KYC on its officers, ultimate beneficial ownership, and sanctions screening against the UN, EU, UK and US lists — so you know who you are exchanging paper with before you exchange any. Our free template library includes ICPO, FCO, LOI, SPA, BCL and NCNDA drafts, and the trade glossary defines the terms that appear inside them.
Frequently asked questions
What does FCO stand for?
Full Corporate Offer. It is the seller's formal offer to sell a commodity, setting out product specification, quantity, price, Incoterms, delivery schedule, payment terms and validity.
Is an FCO legally binding?
Generally it is an offer rather than a concluded contract, and most FCOs state a validity period and are expressed as subject to contract. Whether it binds depends on its wording and the governing law — a firm offer accepted without qualification can create obligations, so take legal advice on the specific document.
What is the difference between an FCO and a soft offer?
A soft offer is indicative: the seller is testing interest and the terms may move. An FCO is meant to be firm for its stated validity period. The distinction matters when you are pricing freight or arranging finance against it.
What should I check on an FCO?
That the seller is the entity that actually controls the cargo or has a contract with the producer, that the specification matches an actual standard, that the payment instrument is one your bank will handle, that the named loading port fits the origin, and that the signatory is authorised.
What is the difference between an FCO and an ICPO?
An FCO comes from the seller and offers goods. An ICPO comes from the buyer and orders them. They are two sides of the same negotiation.
This article is general information about market practice, not legal advice. Whether any particular document binds you depends on its wording and its governing law — take advice on your own contracts.