At the time of the Chinese Spring Festival it’s a good time to reflect on what has happened over the past year and what may possibly occur over the coming year. The year started with the final relaxations of Covid restrictions in China and the opening up to trade. Shipping rates had fallen below pre…
As Chinese Spring festival reaches its peak another year comes to an end we look forward to the Year of the Rabbit 兔年. We wish all our customers a very happy and successful year ahead. The last year has been challenging with many changes. Shipping rates have happily reverted to pre covid levels. But currency…
Shipping prices reached historic highs during the peak of the pandemic with prices as high as 16,000 USD per 40ft HQ container China- UK. Prices have been steadily falling since the beginning of the year and last Friday broke through the 2,000 USD barrier. During the pandemic container shipping rates rose to unsustainable high levels…
We have just visited Hong Kong for the first time in 3 years. I have to say it’s good to be back but the world has changed so much in the intervening 3 years and that includes Hong Kong. Aside from the quarantine restrictions which are now largely lifted requiring just 3 days semi isolation…
From the outset China has adopted a zero tolerance approach to Covid-19 infections imposing severe lockdowns of areas where cases are detected. This is combined with a sophisticated track and trace system with suspected cases vigorously approved with mass testing of populations when outbreaks our detected. This policy is backed up by a virtual closed…
Last night our director Mike spent an interesting half hour in discussion with Professor Hong Bo, professor of financial economics SOAS London and Professor Xiaolan Fu, professor of technology and international development Oxford University on a program ‘The Bottom Line’ hosted by Evan Davis on BBC Radio four and also on the World service. The…
Hopefully the year of the Tiger will be a good one for China-UK relations. After a period of decidedly frosty trade relations between the UK and China since the UK made a decision to ban Huawei from its 5G network it is very welcome to learn the mood in Number 10 has changed. The Prime…
As another year comes to an end we look forward to the Year of the Tiger 老虎. The last year has been eventful and a year full of change and volatility particularly in respect of shipping but also uncertainty of supplies and currency exchange rates – all of which makes trading difficult and challenging. But…
Many things have changed in the sphere of trade over the past few months. Trading has certainly got more difficult and costs have risen. Despite this ‘The West’s’ appetite for ‘things’ seems to continue un abated and demand is as high as ever. In the UK as the high street continues its in exorable decline…
We would like to wish all our customers a very happy moon festival. 我们祝所有客户中秋节快乐 As we pass the equinox and move into autumn and a new season it is perhaps useful whilst we gaze up at the wonderful sight of the full moon to appraise some of the changes that have happened over the past…
The UK supply industry is facing unprecedented challenges over the coming months. This is not new and has been developing steadily over the past 18 months but it is only now starting to feed through to the general public and consumers who are now seeing increasing empty shelves or the dreaded ‘currently out of stock’…
The UK, once a proud maritime nation faces being left out in the cold by the major shipping lines as they struggle to contend with equipment shortages, lack of capacity, delays in ports and even virtual port closures. Numerous sailing scheduled to call in at UK ports over the past few months have chosen so…
As if the situation couldn’t get any worse it actually has. Shipping has become a very hazardous and expensive operation for all importers of goods from Asia over the past year. Firstly we had Covid-19 with a reduction in trade leading to cancelled sailings and reduced capacity. Then we had a flurry of activity as…
Supplies of a wide range of goods to the UK has been challenging over the past few months. This has been caused primarily by the effects of Covid-19 which has disrupted supply chains and altered demand in an unpredictable manner. Brexit has been an additional complication especially form supplies coming from the EU and not…
As the UK comes out of lockdown and trade resumes demand for products from around the world and China in particular has risen. The last few months have not however been without their difficulties for companies sourcing products from Asia. We have seen unprecedented rise in the cost of shipping – sometimes by as much…
As the year of the Rat comes to an end and we celebrate the start of a new year, the Ox is perhaps appropriate given the current world climate where hard work will be required by all to pull out of this. It has of course being a challenging year for all and at China-UK…
Last month we reported on this site about the difficulties and delays occurring in the supply of goods by container to the UK and from China in particular. The chaos which is unfolding has also now been highlighted inn a very good article written by Zoe Wood in the Guardian http://tiny.cc/0wr4tz where she highlights further…
As the year draws to a close we are still unsure whether the UK will manage to secure a trade deal with the EU before the end of the year and commentators seem divided on the prospects of this being achieved. Some businesses are looking forward to the prospects of a no deal Brexit other…
We have seen increasing problems over recent weeks with congestion at our major container ports in the UK. In short they are struggling to cope with the capacity of containers arriving. This is leading to backlogs, log jams and vessels being diverted. In some cases shipping lines are simply diverting to other countries avoiding the…
We have just broken our record for supplies of PPE as yet another large consignment of face masks arrives for our customers. This time a truck loads of 3 ply type IIR masks – the sought preferred by care homes and other health care providers. It’s the only 3 ply mask which has certified fluid…