Chinese New Year (CNY) 2020 will commence on Saturday, January 25th.  As usual, it is expected to be accompanied by the typical pre-holiday surge and post-holiday deluge of blank sailings implemented by the carriers.

Manufacturing in China will begin to cease as early as Thursday, January 16th, with most factories opening their doors again during the first week of February.

In conjunction with factory closures, and in an asserted effort to strike some semblance of parity between capacity and demand, carriers have announced a rather hefty blank sailing schedule, with nearly 40% of all Transpacific capacity voided in Week 6 (February 3rd through February 9th). Needless to say, this will cause delays and marked disruptions for importers.

Please reference the following chart for a breakdown of blank sailings as a percent of market capacity following CNY:

Please click HERE for a comprehensive list of voided sailings set to be imposed by the carriers in January and February.

Space is already fairly tight due to sporadic delays caused by rollovers and delays in space-confirmation. As CNY approaches, importers should expect further disruption with space availability and container rollovers.

Should you require any assistance in successfully booking your cargo during this turbulent time, please reach out to our Transportation team today.

Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.