Peak shipping season is already in full swing as shippers prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but carriers are warning that shippers should also be aware that two major holidays could disrupt supply chains in this period.
Golden Week in China may be the more disruptive given that major manufacturing centres will shut down during the first week of October, but the five-day Hindu festival of Diwali, this year starting on 12 November, will have an effect.
Retailers in particular are front-loading orders to leave China ahead of the weeklong break, usually around a month ahead of the holiday to ensure that goods are on the shelves and in warehouses ahead of Golden Week.
Diwali is a little later in the peak season period but will continue for five days also and as such shippers that move freight to and from regions that celebrate Diwali should not underestimate the potential for congestion and delays.
“Like a proverbial game of musical chairs, companies that haven’t planned ahead or aren’t working with a logistical service provider that can offer multiple solutions, may find that when the music stops, in this case when Golden Week [or Diwali] hits, they won’t have a cargo spot,” said Maersk.
Advice from carriers is to plan your shipments early and to use intermodal containers that are built for loading onto ships as well as trucks and trains. That allows flexibility to move freight on any transport mode including inland barge.
Booking via an all-in-one platform will allow shippers to view the entire logistics chain for their cargo and to manage that chain more efficiently.
Early identification and booking of freight will give greater predictability and flexibility and will make planning easier, particularly if there are capacity reductions or adjustments to port rotations.
“Historically during September and October peak shipping season, we see a decrease in capacity in the market compared to the previous months. In the past four years, an average of 16% of capacity was removed from the market in September and October, compared to July and August, according to Sea Intelligence,” explained Alexandre Pinto, market manager at Maersk.
MSC has already announced a revision to the port rotation changes and vessel changes to both its Asia to the US and the Far East to North Europe services. THE Alliance has also announced the suspension of its PS5 service, with cargo moving to its PS3, PS6 and PS7 rotations.
The advice is to work with reliable logistics partners that are able to react flexibly when deviations or problems occur. Moreover, it is critical to remain up to date on the transportation of cargo. Good tracking services that work for the type of cargo that you have are essential, and those tracking services work, along the entire length of the supply chain, rather than on a single element of the journey.
Mary Ann Evans
Correspondent at Large
