2 days to go before the Chinese New Year!

On Monday 23 January, the year 4721 of the Chinese lunar calendar will begin under the sign of WATER HARE. It will replace the Year of the Water Tiger and will end on 9 February 2024, giving way to the Wooden Dragon.

Far from being confined to China, the New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is also celebrated in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

This is an important period of festivities that lasts 15 full days and ends with the famous Lantern Festival.
It is therefore also a period of economic slowdown with a strong impact on the loading capacity of ships from these areas.

“This year, the configuration is a little different from other years concerning maritime freight”, says Alix THONG, head of maritime procurement.

“After the COVID period, importers built up stocks in anticipation of a possible new crisis and to cope with inflation. The new wave of epidemics in China has also significantly slowed down economic activity.
Unlike 2022, there are no shortages of containers or ships. However, in order to maintain their freight rates and adjust supply to a fall in demand, shipping lines have had to resort to blank sailing, i.e. the cancellation of calls or entire routes.”

For more information, we advise our customers to contact the DIMOTRANS Group’s Overseas subsidiary, QUALITAIR&SEA, or to consult the articles in the newsroom .

We would like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy New Year “新年快乐 (Xinnian Kuaile)” to all the Asian teams of DIMOTRANS Group!