The Lunar New Year is a bright holiday for Asian countries, and on behalf of the SeaRates team, we wish our beloved customers and partners prosperity, inspiration for new achievements, and solid success in business!
This festive period is also significant for the whole world, as it affects logistics to Asia from Europe, America, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia, and vice versa. The long period of the Lunar New Year causes a structural imbalance in supply chains, on which regional and international trade depend.
In our article, we’ll discover when shippers, traders, and carriers have narrow windows for fulfilling shipments and what risks lead to unplanned expenses.
Where does the real disruption happen?
Disruptions related to the Lunar New Year impact specific pressure points in the supply chain rather than spreading across all supply chain operations.
- Shipping windows from factories become unstable due to fluctuations in staffing levels and production volumes.
- The availability of domestic trucking declines unevenly and often without formal notice.
- Container availability and gate access become less reliable in the weeks leading up to the holidays.
Ports and marine services operate as usual, but their services become less predictable. Carriers are using empty voyages to adjust capacity while implementing stricter rules on the refusal of carriage. Shippers with established volumes and confirmed bookings are given priority over shippers who need to make last-minute changes.
How much are shipping costs to China in time for the Lunar New Year 2026?
Let’s save on shipping costs during this peak season. What are the freight rates from different continents to China in the run-up to the holidays? Take a look at the lowest shipping costs for 20-foot FCL cargo containers to Chinese ports.
Freight rates from North America to China
| Prince Rupert - Yantian | From $2400 | Check rates |
| Long Beach - Changzhou | From $1000 | Check rates |
| New York - Shanghai | From $2400 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 26, 2026.
Freight rates from South America to China
| Buenos Aires - Qingdao | From $330 | Check rates |
| Santos - Yantian | From $37 | Check rates |
| Callao - Shanghai | From $117 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until March 7, 2026.
Freight rates from Europe to China
| Zeebgrugge - Qingdao | From $28 | Check rates |
| Rotterdam - Zhoushan | From $690 | Check rates |
| Lisboa - Shenzhen | From $1300 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 19, 2026.
Freight rates from Africa to China
| Cape Town - Taicang | From $1500 | Check rates |
| Apapa - Qingdao | From $240 | Check rates |
| Djibouti - Shanghai | From $590 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 26, 2026.
Freight rates from the Middle East to China
| Jebel Ali - Leliu | From $600 | Check rates |
| Doha - Xiamen | From $900 | Check rates |
| Sohar - Shanghai | From $310 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 26, 2026.
Freight rates from Asia to China
| Pusan - Shanghai | From $500 | Check rates |
| Nhava Sheva - Shekou | From $100 | Check rates |
| Bangkok - Taicang | From $550 | Check rates |
*Actual rates are valid until February 20, 2026.
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 or compare tariffs instantly via the Logistics Explorer tool. Try all the benefits of personalized logistics with SeaRates solutions for digital logistics execution and management.
Lunar New Year 2026: Logistics timeline
The Lunar New Year is not a single event but a period of patterns that repeat from year to year. Let's look at the operational characteristics and risks of each phase of the holiday period:
6–8 weeks before Lunar New Year
This stage shows stable production planning together with widespread inland capacity availability and carriers willing to negotiate volume contracts. Still, but for the last time before the holidays end.
You can also adjust your route selection, flight selection, and place your inventory, as transport companies confirm large volumes and ensure predictable delivery under normal conditions.
4–6 weeks before Lunar New Year
Large-scale shutdowns continue in countries across the region, and the availability of trucks and railcars is declining or becoming uneven.
Timely shipments are still possible, but only for shippers with stable forecasts from carriers due to early agreements. Late increases in volumes are technically acceptable, but operational performance suffers.
At risk are more reliable deadlines (cut-off dates), priority access to domestic freight transport, and discussions of favorable delivery terms for all parties.
2–3 weeks before Lunar New Year
This phase can be the most misleading. Although supplies are not yet running out, flexibility is rapidly disappearing: bookings during this period are characterized by increased costs, limited shipping windows, and a high risk of rescheduling.
It is also impossible to strategically manage inventory, other than as a protective stockpile.
Holiday period
The most important thing is to maintain control over acceleration. The production facilities of the global trade giant have been suspended or are operating with minimal staff, cross-border inland transport is limited, and partners' response times have been reduced. When operations are suspended, you must continue to monitor everything closely.
Prepared supply chains shift the focus from speed to control, prioritizing:
- visibility of shipments (not forced acceleration)
- clear and careful communication with customers about delivery arrival times and shipment exclusions
- preparation for the recovery phase (not escalation during downtime)
Carriers have to communicate with partners or customers to provide updates on their shipments’ statuses and get real-time ETAs by simply clicking “Update” in the tracking system:
2–4 weeks after Lunar New Year
The period after the Chinese New Year is when the most underestimated risks occur. As production gradually resumes, traffic jams on domestic roads intensify, and carriers are working to restore their schedules.
Therefore, the main risk is the uncertainty of transit times, rather than price volatility.
Disruptions after the holidays usually manifest themselves in the form of:
- production delays at points of departure,
- congestion on domestic transport corridors,
- delays in restoring vessel schedules,
- giving priority to pre-booked cargo over unbooked volumes.
Companies that prioritized and secured capacity before the holidays are moving first. Those who did not are waiting.
When will logistics actually reopen after the Lunar New Year?
Reopening involves multiple phases, each imposing its own specific limitations:
Factories typically resume production gradually. The first production phase begins with restricted output because of two factors, which include both staff limitations and material supply issues.
- Inland trucking recovers unevenly, with driver availability lagging behind factory restarts. This phase creates the highest congestion at origin points, which undergo loading operations.
- Ports and terminals keep operating during the holiday period but experience their highest congestion after factories start up again and backlogged freight enters their distribution system.
- Ocean carriers prioritize cargo booked before the holiday, while post-holiday bookings often face delayed sailings and extended transit times.
The process of reopening leads to an incomplete return of operational activities. Most supply chains reach their complete operational capacity three weeks after the holiday period ends.
Your inventory strategy as a buffer against post-holiday instability
Inventories protect against disruptions, but they are expensive.
Production shuts down before Lunar New Year, factories start up unevenly after the holiday, and logistics are overloaded (traffic delays, detentions, and container shortages).
So, to avoid supply disruptions, trade companies mostly create inventory buffers. However, this is expensive because it requires more money in goods — working capital.
What is the plan?
1. Analyze costs
How much does it cost to:
- keep extra stock
- vs. losing sales due to delays
2. Decide on inventory levels
Depending on the risk:
- critical goods → more inventory
- less important → less
3. Plan purchases in advance
Because after the holidays:
- production is slow
- delivery is overloaded
The right strategy is to quantify the cost of holding inventory versus the cost of lost sales, prioritize extra stock only for critical SKUs, and secure purchases before the holiday shutdown to prevent service disruptions.
Why does Lunar New Year continue to expose structural weaknesses?
Most of the extra costs during Lunar New Year are due to the assumption that inland transport will always be available, sailing schedules will not change, and careful preparation will be replaced by sudden and flexible decisions.
Do you consider the Lunar New Year to be an annual surprise? Then you will easily be bypassed by trading businesses and shippers who view this period as a mandatory constraint every year. They are the ones who commit to logistics in advance and endure temporary inefficiency to protect long-term reliability.
Final insights
The most effective strategy during the Lunar New Year in 2026 and the post-holiday period is operational, not reactive: lock allocations before the pre-holiday cutoff and build inventory buffers only where service failure is more expensive than tied-up capital.
Requiring support with routing, capacity planning, or freight rate validation for Lunar New Year 2026 and post-holiday season? We at SeaRates are always here to assist you and provide reliable options right on time. Drop your need at the request form or at [email protected] to get a tailored offer for your business needs.
On behalf of the SeaRates team, we wish you a smooth peak season and reliable deliveries — 新年快乐! 🐲✨
