Shipping lines cancel post-CNY sailings and roll cargo

Last Sunday, the 22nd January, marked the start of the Lunar New Year holidays, with factories and most other parts of Chinese society closing down for at least a week and typically two, causing a pause in exports leaving the country, which traditionally prompts container shipping lines to cancel a few sailings. This year it’s almost a third of scheduled sailings.

Typically, the weeks before the Lunar New Year holidays experience an export rush from China, as orders are shipped before the factories close and production halts, but this year, with the absence of any spike, carriers across the three alliances have cut 15 westbound departures in that period before the holidays, with just 69 ships departing on a round-trip to North Europe or the Mediterranean between the 1st and 20th January.

Alphaliner has calculated that over the pre and post-CNY holiday period, from 1st January to 17th February the carrier alliances are skipping nearly 30% of their originally scheduled sailings to Northern Europe.

The Far East – North Europe and Mediterranean loops should have offered a total of 196 sailings, to the 17th February, but 53 planned voyages have been cut and this number could increase if carriers decide to blank more post-CNY sailings.

Across the Alliances, there has been a 29% reduction in the number of 2M sailings in the first seven weeks of the year, while OCEAN Alliance has reduced westbound voyages by 23% and THE Alliance has been most active, with a 36% reduction to Northern Europe.

THE Alliance’s high figure is partly due to the fact that their carriers are diverting more backhaul sailings from the Suez Canal to the Cape of Good Hope, which adds two weeks to vessel arrivals back in China.

The carriers skip CNY sailings to adjust capacity and avoid rate erosion. They also create roll pools, so that vessels leaving during the CNY holidays have volume, while factories are closed.

We work closely with our offices in China to monitor which lines are rolling cargo, and use our space agreements to ensure our containers are always lifted, though expectations are that roll pools will be cleared through weeks 5 to 8.

EMAIL Matt Fullard for more information, advice and guidance.