Toronto, May 28, 2025
The space situation in China is becoming increasingly constrained as a result of a surge in volume triggered by the 90-day US / China tariff suspension. Carriers across the board are experiencing serious space shortages, largely due to significant capacity cuts through service suspensions and blank sailings over the past two months.
Most vessels are operating at, or near, full capacity toward the end of this month, with many experiencing overbooking. Carriers have started to reduce space allocations, and in some cases, are even retracting space that was already released. Carriers have announced General Rate Increases (GRI) on June 1st and June 15th of $2,000.00–$4,000.00 USD per 40’ container in response to space constraints.
According to Sea-Intelligence, between 180,000 TEUs and 540,000 TEUs of cargo in China have already been manufactured, or stored in warehouses, awaiting shipment. This has created a massive “cargo pool” that carriers will need to manage and distribute over the next six weeks—or possibly longer. This estimate does not account for the expected front-loading by US importers ahead of the August 14 deadline, marking the end of the 90-day suspension. Many will attempt to move as much cargo as possible before tariffs are reinstated.
Although things could change drastically in regards to supply and demand after August 14th, for now, we must prepare for an early and potentially prolonged peak season. We strongly advise clients to book shipments as early as possible. Pre-booking space at least 4 weeks in advance is essential to securing carrier space.
For more information, please call Debbie McGuire, Director – Freight Solutions at (905) 882-4880, ext. 1308.
