Christmas probably seems all encompassing right now, but Chinese New Year (CNY) in 2016 will be upon us before we know it. Next year the Chinese holiday for Chinese New Year is from 7 Feb to 13 Feb, 2016 (week 6).
To minimise the rush and avoid potential disappointment in the movement of your freight from China, please take some time to consider your shipping needs well in advance of the holiday. Please see below for details
FCL Shipments
Most factories shut down between 7 Feb and 22 Feb and some for even longer. While the factories make every effort to process as many orders as possible before the holiday, we recommend booking shipments at least 14 days in advance to avoid disappointment.
As there is already one cancelled sailing in January before CNY, space will become very tight in the two weeks leading up to the holiday. During this time, ports will become congested and some shipping lines may accept container bookings in excess of the capacity of some ships, and roll these over to the next available vessel resulting in delayed movements.
For Pearl River Delta ports (PRD) – such as Guangzhou, Huangpu, Foshan, Rongqi, Beijiao…etc, the last feeder sailing before CNY will depart on or round 2 February. Again we recommend booking this at least 2 weeks before sailing.
LCL Shipments
As for above FCLs, however please add a further week.
China Customs
The duty schedules of Chinese Customs during CNY will only be announced by the Government around 1 February 2016. Typically, Chinese Customs arranges a skeleton staff or half day duty during the CNY holidays, so processing delays with export Customs clearance should be expected. Also, most customs brokers and LCL warehouses will close. Therefore, we suggest the following:
- All shipments must be handled and customs clearance completed before CNY.
- For PRD ports origin, the customs office will be closed during CNY, all Customs clearance processes must be completed before 30 January.
- For emergency or special cases which may be encountered during the holiday, advance notice (including full and complete customs documents) will be required to determine feasibility.
Trucking Service
Most of the transport companies will stop services one week before the CNY. As with the ports, the trucking companies will be at capacity in the two weeks leading up to CNY. During this time, trucking arrangements will need to be booked at least 10 days (FCL) & 7-10 days (LCL) in advance of requirements.
There will also be increases in trucking costs during and before CNY.
Last dates for trucking services before the holiday:
If you have any queries or would like more information, please call me or one of our Customer Service team members on 1300 651 888 or send me an email.
