Space from China is beginning to tighten after the nations week-long national holiday. Please also note that we are seeing a continued trend of space issues from Malaysia and Korea also.
There are various factors in play as to why space on board vessels is becoming a hot commodity:
- Vessel schedules altered after Golden Week (many lines have blank sailings during this period, resulting in a back log of containers to move)
- Now that shippers in China are back from holidays they are pushing to have their cargo depart ASAP
- High demand is pushing freight rates higher with some shipping lines, whilst rates on other lines remain very cheap.
- The cheaper shipping lines are seeing a huge surge in bookings. The result being is that bookings are either being rolled (anywhere between 1-4 weeks) or bookings are simply not being accepted at origin
- With the surge of cargo currently being booked, trans shipment cargo moving via Port Klang and Singapore are often seeing 1-2 weeks delay.
All of the above reasons are creating a “perfect storm” for shipping.
Early ordering is the key to riding out these difficult times. It is also imperative that your suppliers are placing their bookings with our agents as early as possible, not when the cargo is ready. Most shipping lines operate on a 14 day booking policy – meaning that if you are booking cargo today, you may not get space on a vessel for 14 days.
If your shipments are urgent, however, we urge you to speak with your Import Customer Service operator directly about the different options that are available to you.
Please kindly contact our Import Operations directly should you have any further queries.
