Tough Chinese New Year for Shipping Lines

The first day of the Year of the Horse is tomorrow, 31st January, and many sea freight companies are anticipating a slow February owing to the subsequent Chinese New Year celebrations.

While early January saw a sharp increase in ocean volumes through Chinese ports, carriers are reportedly reducing capacity in advance of an accelerating shutdown next week.

David Goldberg, Senior Vice President of DHL'S Freight Branch in Asia Pacific, has predicted that exports from the Pearl and Yangtze Rivers will dry up in the weeks preceding and following the public holiday.

Although the official holiday runs until 7th February, Ferry van Meggelen, Panalpina's head of Chinese operations, warned that most workers only return to their factories on the 14th day after Chinese New Year, meaning that it may take longer than expected for freight volumes to begin their recovery. “For 2014... actual work will be picked up again in week eight only. Ocean freight bookings will then follow with a bit of delay. Signals from the market suggest that it will take until week nine or even ten for volumes to get back to ‘normal’,” he said.