Preparing for Chinese New Year

The Lunar New Year 2019 or Spring Festival, is the biggest Chinese celebration of the year, taking place 3rd to 9th February, with its usual profound impact on supply chains.

Factories, offices and other workplaces will be closed for the entire week of Chinese New Year, with most Chinese travelling to spend the holiday with their families, which means there will be delays, and disruptions in the weeks leading up to and following CNY.

We usually experience factories closing or operating at reduced capacity for upto 4 weeks.

As Chinese New Year approaches, space will become more difficult to secure and freight rates typically increase and usually begin decreasing one to two weeks after Chinese New Year.

What you can expect as CNY approaches:
– Shortage of trucking capacity
– Road congestion in ports and terminal areas
– Ports and Terminals are highly crowded
– Shortage of space on vessels
– Equipment shortage at container yards

Carriers have begun to announce blank sailing programs in anticipation of volume reductions after CNY, though we expect carriers will just as quickly add capacity when demand picks up.

We are working very closely with our colleagues in China, and with the carriers we support, and will share updates as additional information becomes available.

Our offices are closed 4-10 February 2019