Shipping from China is set to worsen as we inch closer to the nation’s week long holiday for Golden Week.
At the moment we are currently experiencing huge delays across all shipping lines throughout the whole of China – along with South East Asia.
There are various factors in play as to why space on board vessels is becoming a hot commodity:
- New alliances that have been launched has resulted in carriers consolidating and shifting vessel schedules.
- Shippers are pushing to have their cargo depart prior to Golden Week.
- 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.
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.
