Preparing your supply chain for the Chinese New Year 2024 should start with arming yourself with knowledge. With today's readers, we need to identify the overall impact of China's national events on global logistics and find practical insights and tools to implement them in your business. How can you improve your trade and logistics processes daily and always be prepared for market volatility as of February 2024? Let's get to the point.
Impact of Lunar New Year 2024 on international logistics
At this time of year, the Lunar New Year (February 9–15) and Lantern Festival (February 24) in China are among the key dates that impact global logistics.
At the end of January, we are at the stage where factories in China have already slowed down their production due to the start of the holidays, and major ports are working in a super-loaded mode for rush deliveries.
In a few more days and in early February, the world will feel China's ports' limited capacity. Monitoring ship schedules will become a necessity for freight forwarders, shippers, and anyone else.
In about a month after the holidays, factories and port infrastructure will return to normal for the bustling spring season in the supply chain.
How much are shipping costs to China in time for the Lunar New Year 2024?
We encourage you to follow the motto "Plan ahead and save on shipping costs" to optimize your supply chain. What are the freight rates from different continents to China in the run-up to the holidays? These are some examples of the most affordable 20-foot FCL container shipping costs to Chinese ports.
Freight rates from North America to China
| Prince Rupert - Yantian | From $1200 | Check rates |
| Long Beach - Changzhou | From $1900 | Check rates |
| New York - Shanghai | From $2600 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until March 31, 2024.
Freight rates from South America to China
| Buenos Aires - Shanghai | From $500 | Check rates |
| Santos - Yantian | From $330 | Check rates |
| Callao - Shanghai | From $50 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 27, 2024.
Freight rates from Europe to China
| Antwerpen - Qingdao | From $350 | Check rates |
| Rotterdam - Ningbo | From $390 | Check rates |
| Lisboa - Shekou | From $1300 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 26, 2024.
Freight rates from Africa to China
| Cape Town - Taicang | From $3700 | Check rates |
| Apapa - Qingdao | From $220 | Check rates |
| Djibouti - Shanghai | From $330 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 6, 2024.
Freight rates from the Middle East to China
| Jebel Ali - Leliu | From $230 | Check rates |
| Doha - Xiamen | From $230 | Check rates |
| Abu Dhabi - Ningbo | From $220 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 15, 2024.
Freight rates from Asia to China
| Pusan - Shanghai | From $65 | Check rates |
| Nhava Sheva - Shekou | From $110 | Check rates |
| Bangkok - Qingdao | From $150 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 17, 2024.
We have listed some examples of shipping routes above. You can get a freight rate for any other destination or specific delivery requirements through the Request a Quote form. Try all the benefits of personalized logistics with the SeaRates marketplace.
There are two main scenarios for minimizing delays during the holiday season
As we've already seen, China's influence on global shipping and logistics is significant and hard to overestimate. And if a supplier misses the moment of proper planning, the losses will not be long in coming.
The main obstacle to your logistics business during this February holiday period is the need for more empty containers. Can such a small detail cause a delay in your deliveries? Of course, if you don't know about alternative shipping methods. How can we avoid Lunar New Year shipping delays in 2024?
Understand “Sea-air/Sea-land” shipping formula
The first alternative scenario is multimodal and intermodal transportation to Chinese ports. Knowing the difference between intermodal and multimodal transportation, you can determine a more convenient way.
An example of your request: You need to find a faster way than by sea to deliver a shipment from Nhava Sheva, IN, to Shanghai, CN.
Starting with understanding the transit time of single-mode-shipping (in our case, by sea) from Nhava Sheva to Shanghai, we enter the point of departure and the point of arrival in our Distance & Time tool.
The functionality of the tool allows you to check out a detailed description of the distance and time of the route:
As well as historical data on the freight transit time of cargo shipments in the specified direction from global shipping lines:
Thus, we have obtained the average and extreme values of the transit time for your transportation from Nhava Sheva to Shanghai by sea.
To calculate freight transit times and other data for multimodal transportation (in our case, sea-air/sea-land), apply the SeaRates Route Planner tool.
As a user, you can easily define your route's necessary points and locations and add them to the estimation. So far, we have defined the port of Nhava Sheva as the point of departure and Shanghai Airport as the point of arrival. For the transshipment point, we select the port of Bangkok, although you can find your own option among the available ones:
Our logistics analysis and estimation allowed us to compare the overall transit time results of different delivery methods. On the Route Planner map, you can see the transit time for each route segment by different modes of transport and calculate it in total.
However, when you want to fulfill your logistics business or platform with our IT logistics tools, you can fill out the Request an IT Quote form to send your needs to the SeaRates team.
Less Container Load (LCL) shipping type
As we stated at the beginning of this chapter, the problem we are aiming to solve is the lack of empty containers. That is, everyone in the supply chain is affected by delays due to the inability to pack and ship cargo at the time of need.
Another solution that works is to avoid the FCL (Full Container Load) type of transportation for a while in favor of LCL (Less Container Load).
No matter how obvious this solution may seem at first glance, our team strives to save you money on LCL transportation here as well.
In addition to optimizing shipping costs, you also benefit from shorter transit time. How does it work?
If the total shipment is divided into several packages, each package has a separate bill of lading. This helps to diversify the risks of delay because if a particular container or cargo is delayed, the cargo under another bill of lading or carrier is not impacted.
In our Logistics Explorer tool, you can compare freight rates for both FCL and LCL shipping from different global carriers or shipping lines to your preferred destinations. Now is the time to try it out and share your impressions with us.
To Conclude
Armed with insights, you won't be afraid of losing control of your supply chain during peak seasons and holidays. After all, the digital logistics market is booming with the latest shipping solutions. You are free to choose the most reliable ones, see how they fit your needs, and integrate them into your business.
Contact our team at [email protected] to find the right IT solution for your logistics needs.
