China Sighs Over Surging Halloween and Christmas Product Orders

Container Bottleneck to Persist for a While... Rising Logistics Costs Including Ocean Freight Unavoidable
Most Inbound Containers Returned as Empty Containers

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Ahead of the year-end peak seasons such as Halloween Day (October 31) and Christmas (December 25), a large volume of pre-orders is flooding in, according to Chinese media reports.

Chinese media including Global Times reported on the 2nd that orders for Halloween and Christmas-related gifts and supplies have surged since June. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing major ports in Guangdong Province (Shenzhen) and other key locations in China to not operate normally, coupled with a shortage of containers, importers in the US and Europe are rushing to place pre-orders.

An official from a trading company in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, China said, "Orders for Halloween and Christmas supplies, which usually come in around August, have been brought forward by 2 to 3 months," adding, "Currently, orders are closed as all orders until the end of August have been completed." Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, is the world's largest wholesale hub for miscellaneous goods and is known as the "world's supermarket."

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

A representative from a Halloween supplies manufacturer said, "Hundreds of thousands of Halloween items such as pumpkin lanterns sold out in less than two weeks," and added, "We are working overtime to meet the demand."

Global Times emphasized that by the end of May, China's export volume reached 8.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 30.1% compared to the previous year and 23.6% compared to 2019, showing a significant rise in exports.

However, it expressed concerns that delays in shipping and unloading due to COVID-19 have caused a shortage of containers, making exports difficult. Global Times explained that more than 15,000 and 50,000 empty containers are piled up at some ports in California, USA, and major ports in Australia, respectively, and these containers are not being returned. As a result, maritime freight rates have tripled, causing difficulties for import and export companies.

Zhao Hengchao, Director of Yiwu Customs, said, "With maritime freight rates rising sharply, transporting cargo by train is emerging as an alternative," adding, "Rail transport is about twice as fast as shipping, and the difference in freight costs is not significant."

While ships can transport 10,000 to 20,000 containers (based on 20-foot containers) at once, trains can carry a maximum of only 50 containers, making it insufficient to resolve the container bottleneck.

Global Times cited experts saying that due to the infectious disease, most inbound containers are likely to return empty, and phenomena such as shipping and unloading delays and rising maritime freight rates may continue for 2 to 3 years.

Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Transport announced that by the end of May, the North America route's shipping capacity increased by 65% year-on-year to 5.51 million TEUs, and the Europe route's shipping capacity rose by 38% compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.