When is Lunar New Year?
The Lunar New Year holiday, also known as Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, Seollal and Tết, can range from a few days to over one week, depending on the region. Mainland China and Taiwan have the longest Lunar New Year holiday. Therefore, they have the longest downtime in terms of shipping and logistics operations. However, Lunar New Year is also celebrated in other countries in North and Southeast Asia. As the holiday is based on the lunar calendar, dates always vary from year to year.
- February 10-17 (Mainland China)
- February 10-13 (Hong Kong)
- February 8-14 (Taiwan)
- February 9-12 (South Korea)
- February 11-13 (Singapore)
- February 8-14 (Vietnam)
- February 10-12 (Malaysia)
Shipping and logistics operations will be slower than normal before and after Lunar New Year, particularly in North Asia. This delay also has a knock-on effect for trade lanes, such as in nearby Southeast Asia. Consequently, we advise all customers to prepare their bookings and flow of cargo in advance to account for this delay.
Our staff will be out of office during the designated public holidays in each region, however our teams will ensure that all shipments are managed and that customers maintain a point of contact during this time via email or phone.
Below is a guide offering the latest information on the expected operational delays during Lunar New Year. The guide also contains advice on bookings. This information serves as a general guidance subject to change, therefore we recommend keeping in close contact with your Röhlig representative to confirm details.
Sea Freight personnel will be on leave in Greater China, and carriers may roll out blank sailings shortly before the holiday.
Ground-transportation in South Korea will continue to operate, however costs increase as a result.
Warehouses will remain closed during Lunar New Year holiday throughout North Asia.
In Vietnam, carrier offices will close for the duration of the holidays. For sea freight imports to Vietnam, please send pre-alerts or draft pre-alerts to VN.SEA.IMPORTS@rohlig.com five days prior to ETA. Warehouses and terminals will maintain operations but with shorter shifts and reduced personnel, so expect delays.
Air Freight carriers in mainland China will stop accepting bookings prior to Lunar New Year and may cancel later flights if stock finishes. Meanwhile, truck services may cost up to 2-3 times higher at least 3 days prior to the holiday and up to 1 week after. Carriers, terminals and customs remain on duty during the holiday, but with less capacity. This may cause delays. Domestic trucking pickup and delivery will experience more severe delays.
In Taiwan, air freight carriers and customs will close during Lunar New Year.
Röhlig Logistics South Korea advise that air freight carriers' offices will be closed but basic operations will still be in place.
For air fright imports to Vietnam, be advised that the original House Air Waybill (HAWB), Master Air Waybill (MAWB) and Air Manifest must be delivered together.
Westbound and eastbound rail transport will remain open during the Lunar New Year holiday, however services are expected to slow down as drivers in North and Southeast Asia take personal holiday leave.
Due to warehouse closures across North Asia, expect contract logistics services and staff to be unavailable during the Lunar New Year holiday.
When booking a sea freight shipment prior to Lunar New Year, allow for extra time due to the rush of cargo and early operations closures. Booking two weeks in advance of vessel departure is advised in Greater China and South Korea.
In Taiwan, sea freight bookings will be accepted until Feb 1, subject to space and equipment availability.
Bookings are accepted in Southeast Asia at any time up to Lunar New Year but be aware of space availability.
Air freight bookings in Greater China and South Korea will be accepted up until the last day before the Lunar New Year holiday.
In Taiwan, air freight bookings will be accepted until Feb 6.
Röhlig Logistics China estimates document cut-off to be 3 days before the start of Lunar New Year.
Röhlig Logistics Korea advises 4-5 prior to ETD.
In Taiwan, document cut-off varies by carrier, and we advice customers to ideally consider Feb 1 as latest doc cut-off date.
Document cut-off varies by carrier and sailing schedule in Singapore and Vietnam, follow carrier’s booking confirmation, but it is advisable to have documentation submitted by Feb 8.
Some sea freight delays may occur as personnel return from the Lunar New Year holiday. Expect a low volume of bookings as production and manufacturing will not fully resume for a couple of weeks. Plan early, especially when considering domestic trucking in mainland China. Due to transport issues in the Red Sea, there may be additional blank sailings causing a bottle neck. Customers may wish to consider alternative transport options such as air freight for urgent cargo. Review the February forecast to pre-block space with your Röhlig Logistics representative.
Singapore will also likely be affected by space constraints due to the rush of cargo before Lunar New Year.
In Vietnam, operations will be extremely busy before the holiday and quiet following the holiday. Normal operations are not expected to resume fully until March.
Rail delays are expected, with normal services predicted to resume up to 20 days after the Lunar New Year holiday in mainland China. Email the Röhlig Rail Team to maintain close contact with your Product Manager and Operations Team. Services including trucking will need to be checked case-by-case up to 4 weeks prior to the holiday. Westbound station-in cut-off dates are likely to be adjusted, while eastbound flows arriving during the holiday may face detention, demurrage, and/or higher trucking costs for delivery.
In mainland China, trucking delays are expected at the border during the Lunar New Year holiday. Previously this has always been 3 days during the holiday, but was extended to 7 days in 2022 due to the pandemic. Normal operations are estimated to resume 15 days after the holiday for China-Central Asia routes and 7 days after the holiday for China-ASEAN. We advise customers to keep in close contact with your Röhlig Logistics representative and provide an early forecast where possible. Be prepared for rising costs as well as low efficiency as many customs officers will be off-duty.
Contract Logistics personnel will be on leave for Lunar New Year, with operations scheduled to resume February 18. Be advised that some backlog may need to clear.