The Transpacific Shipping Company is trying its best to provide sufficient capacity until the week of the Chinese New Year and the following two weeks (it is expected that many factories in Asia will be closed due to the Spring Festival holiday). At present, the shipping company has only announced five suspended voyage during the Lunar New Year, including two voyages to the east coast and three voyages to the west coast. In addition, there are 7 suspended voyages on Asia-Europe routes.
Sea Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy said: “At present, the number of suspended voyages for the Chinese New Year in 2021 is much lower than in previous years. In previous years, container shipping companies usually suspend 37-41 voyages on the Asia-Western US route and 12-15 on the Asia-East US route. Voyages; according to previous years, in order to cope with the three-week Lunar New Year, the capacity during the period will be greatly reduced, and the trans-Pacific region will have to cancel another 48 to 56 voyages. On the Asia-Northern Europe route, it must be the same as the previous data. Cancel 14-17 voyages, and on the Asia-Mediterranean route, 4-6 voyages must be cancelled. At present, it is not possible to predict the most accurate suspension, but it is clear that the current shipping company’s suspension of voyage arrangements is far less than in previous years .”
There is another unusual situation this year. NVOCC and industry analysts report that some factories in Asia may remain at least partially open during the Lunar New Year holiday. Some factories provide bonuses to workers who work during holidays to support the growth in demand. NVO reports that there is a large backlog of manufactured goods in the workshops of Asian factories, which may consume existing space in the next few weeks.
Patrick Fay, president of NVOCC logistics providers, said that the decline in imports from Asia in the weeks following the Chinese New Year will ease this year. He said: “There is usually a depression after the new year, but it will not happen this year.”