Chinese holiday period: register your shipments in good time

30 August 2018

Every year in China from around mid September to mid October the available shipment space comes under extreme pressure. This is due to the numerous national holidays that take place in the country during this period. Factories close and the work in the ports grinds to a halt. Importers who do not build this into their planning risk shipment delays.

Chinese national holidays

The Chinese Mid-Autumn festival in will take place from 22 – 24 September (incl.) this year. The entire country will come to a standstill during the festival. A week later, from 1 to 7 October (incl.), the Chinese celebrate Golden Week; people also have this period off work. In the week in between and in the days before and after these national holidays, the available space in ships will come under intense pressure.

These issues with capacity are the result of suppliers wishing to have their goods shipped before the holidays. However, due to the large volume of goods arriving at ports not everything can then be accommodated. This is further exacerbated by many cancelled sailings immediately following Golden Week; a direct effect of factories being closed during the previous week, leaving fewer goods to load. Unfortunately, it is rarely clear in advance which sailings will be cancelled. To avoid delays it is therefore advisable to book shipment space in plenty of good time.

Download: the holiday calendar for Asian production countries

There are often longer holiday periods throughout the year in Asia. This can have a significant bearing on your planning. We have gathered together the most important holidays in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh for you in our ‘Holiday calendar for production countries’. This will provide you with the information you need to adjust your planning accordingly and avoid delays.

You can download the ‘Holiday calendar for production countries’ free of charge here.