---
title: Sea Freight Reliability Breaks Down Ahead of Chinese New Year
description: The impact of the Chinese New Year (CNY) on global supply chains is expected to be prolonged. Usually, factories and export operations in China close down weeks before the holiday.
image: https://news.mtflogistics.com.au/hubfs/shipment2.png
---

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# Sea Freight Reliability Breaks Down Ahead of Chinese New Year

![Daniel](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e)

 Daniel

February 13, 2026

![miniature](https://442310841.fs1.hubspotusercontent-ap1.net/hub/442310841/hubfs/miniature.png?width=1200&length=1200&name=miniature.png)

The impact of the Chinese New Year (CNY) on global supply chains is expected to be prolonged. Usually, factories and export operations in China close down weeks before the holiday.

The CNY falls on the 17th February representing the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse. The official public holiday in China will run from 17th to 23rd February implying significant impact will be felt across supply chains.

Ocean carriers have been swamped with bookings that they can’t physically load increasing rolled cargo in loading and trans shipment hubs. In essence, carriers must balance between honoring minimum quantity commitments and building vessel pools ahead of the CNY shutdowns. Booking confirmation doesn’t equate to reliability during the pre-CNY window.

Full production and logistics capacity will return in early March which effectively means that the disruption window stretches to up to eight weeks. Inbound container volumes have exceeded terminal capacity to process and load them on vessels occasioning severe congestion in Chinese ports.

Besides congestion, there are inland constraints such as labour shortages, equipment shortages, and limited truck availability. Even access to gate-in slots is tightening meaning minor delays are cascading into missed sailings. Both vessel capacity and inland logistics are equally contributing to execution risk.

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