On December 24, Maersk Group issued a report stating that in the first quarter of 2022, due to delays in shipping schedules, shipping capacity will continue to be restricted. It is expected that space will remain very tight during the entire Lunar New Year.
The Lunar New Year is the most important festival in China, and it will have a certain impact on the global supply chain.
In previous years, the Chinese New Year was the peak season for my country's exports.
Affected by the recent situation of the new crown epidemic, most factories are still paying close attention to the trend of the epidemic, especially the guidance policies of the local government, to determine the corresponding production plans and holiday arrangements.
It is expected that by January, the official will give clearer guidance.
Maersk predicts that from December this year to the Lunar New Year in 2022, freight demand will remain very strong, and freight volume will remain at a high level.
• Market trends of major routes:
Asia to Northern Europe: Capacity disruption will still affect overall capacity. At least before the Lunar New Year, the phenomenon of capacity interruption will still be very common.
Asia to the Mediterranean: In order to restore the on-time rate, we will continue to implement the voyage wrong schedule strategy in December and January 2022 to further enhance capacity.
During this period, Maersk will also deploy overtime ships to ease the capacity gap.
Asia to North America: Due to port congestion, capacity is expected to continue to decline. Maersk plans to put in four overtime ships in December to reduce the impact of empty voyages.
The congestion situation of North American ports is unlikely to improve in a short period of time. Therefore, it is recommended that customers appropriately extend the delivery cycle between the estimated arrival time and the actual departure time.
Asia to Latin America: Ro-Ro cargo transportation will be under control. The waiting time at the origin and destination ports is longer, which will still bring some pressure on the shift rate.
Regarding the X4A route, Maersk is considering suspending calls at Busan/Hong Kong ports every two weeks to ensure that the ships set sail from Asia on time.
The AC2 route will suspend its call at Yantian or Ningbo, and the AC6 route will suspend its call at Kaohsiung, Ningbo or Shanghai at the origin, and will suspend its call at Balboa at the destination to avoid further delays in the schedule.
During the peak period of the Spring Festival transport, it is expected that the margin of 40-inch containers will be very tight. Therefore, it is recommended that customers provide a loading plan as soon as possible, and consider using 20-inch containers instead of 40-inch containers to achieve early shipment.
From Asia to the Middle East, India and Pakistan: The capacity is expected to be very tight. Between December and January 2022, the east coast of India will open FI4 voyages once a week, and it is expected to resume weekly calls from February.
Asia to Africa: Before the Lunar New Year, the supply of 40-inch containers will be very tight. It is recommended that customers book in advance and consider 20-inch containers as an alternative. There will be a capacity bottleneck in North China, and Maersk is working hard to overcome this problem.
From Asia to Australia and New Zealand: The waiting time at the origin and destination ports is long, which will still put a certain pressure on the capacity, and it will be very difficult to maintain the normal weekly sailing schedule.
Asian imports: Delays in shipping schedules and port congestion are expected to persist, especially in Europe and North America. This will have a negative impact on the on-time delivery of the goods.
