With most feeder services in the Pearl River Delta currently suspended, the movement of containers to and from Hong Kong and Shenzhen is being severely disrupted.

While signing so-called early-bird contracts is not a new phenomenon in the eastbound trans-Pacific, this year is different because the early signings are more frequent and driven more by space guarantees than freight rate considerations.

With importers of lower-value cargo in the EU unwilling to pay record rates, some factories in China will close early and delay the shipping until after the holidays.

Trans-Pacific air cargo rates maintained their upward track into the New Year, and even though prices fell slightly on the other east-west trades, global volume growth has continued.