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Dear Clients, Another year has come and gone (nearly)...and 2025 has once again provided many challenges for shipping and logistics. Here is a quick end of year summary and forecast for the start of 2026. North Asia - AU market overview Shipping lines reported a slow period for bookings at the end of November and beginning of December which was due to those vessel arrivals falling during the Christmas / New Year period. That has now passed and a reported spike in bookings is current, which is expected given the Lunar New Year Holiday is just 8 weeks away. Qingdao port in particular is heavily overbooked and major hubs in Shanghai / Ningbo / Shenzhen are nearing capacity on bookings for Australia trade. GRI announcements On the back of the above cargo surge, carriers have again gone to the market with proposed GRI for 1st January. Given GRI notifications for early and mid-December didn't materialise, we sit and await if this proposed GRI will hold at the start of JAN. Expect shipping lines to announce increase on the 15th JAN and 1st FEB also. We do expect some upward movement in Freight rates over JAN and FEB. Trucking Trucking has been relatively smooth through the lead up to Christmas for FCL containers. Keep in mind the 72hr dehire notice truckers have for empty pick up though. Effectively this FRI 19th DEC is the last day to notify us about empty pickups, if you want it to be dehired before Christmas / Boxing Day public holidays. Each year we see clients forgot to notify or simply lock up and return in the New Year to hefty container detention invoices. So please act on this and call us if you have a container in your yard. Shipping lines give no consideration to extensions or discounts during this period. 2026 Chinese New Year Even through CNY is later in 2026 (China mainland public holiday 15-23 Feb) now is the time to start planning your stock and shipments for this period as it is only 8 weeks away. We anticipate that freight rates will bottom out around MARCH and maybe last into APRIL pending market demand. That will be the likely sweet spot to take advantage of lower shipping costs in 2026. Westgate Tunnel Melbourne This past Sunday (14th DEC) saw the opening of the WESTGATE TUNNEL in Melbourne. This has seen significant changes to the roads that can be utilised by truckers in Melbourne, with majority being pushed through the tunnel now. Toll's for the tunnel are obviously being passed on by truckers and range from $60 - $115. Final amounts depend on varying locations of parties involved for the movement of the container such as;
Further to previous advises, the WA The State Government has confirmed that the Fremantle Traffic Bridge will close on 1 February 2026 for up to 12 months to allow completion of the new replacement bridge. This closure will coincide with peak port activity and is expected to place substantial pressure on the surrounding freight corridors, particularly Stirling Highway and East Fremantle approaches. WA based clients should be expecting operational delays for container deliveries for all of 2026. What else does Transways do outside of FCL, LCL and AIR freight movements We have recently completed a vessel chartering project, relocating a temporary jetty from Hobart to Gladstone Port for the joint Federal and State Government Rockhampton Ring Road project. You can check out the video here Rockhampton Ring Road project 
Office Closure dates and times A friendly reminder that our office will be closed as follows From 12noon (local time) on WED 24th DEC - FRI 26th JAN. From 12noon (local time) on WED 31st DEC - FRI 2nd JAN. *this includes FRI 2nd Jan where all our offices will be closed for the full day* The office reopens on MON 5th JAN 2026, with normal operating hours. From us all at Transways Logistics International, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the business you have afforded us to handle in 2025 and we look forward to continuing and strengthening that relationship in 2026. Wishing you, your team, family and friends a very Happy Festive Season. Should you wish to discuss any of these points, please don't hesitate to reach out to your key contact @ Transways Logistics International. |
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