As the Spring Festival approaches, major ports across China are collectively facing a "terminal congestion crisis," with logistics costs soaring and the risk of rolled cargo rising sharply. From East China to South China, core ports including Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Shekou, and Nansha are severely congested, with yards full and gate appointment slots extremely difficult to secure. Shipping companies' overbooking has led to frequent cargo rollings, while towing fees and drop-off charges continue to rise, making pre-holiday shipping increasingly difficult. The "final window period" before the holiday has evolved into a tense "race against time."

The Waigaoqiao area of Shanghai Port has become a disaster zone, with accumulated heavy containers exceeding 4,000 TEUs. The port area implements strict appointment systems—no entry without a slot. Towing fees have risen approximately 80% compared to normal days, with a cargo rolling probability of about 22% and shipping company overbooking rates reaching 25%. A key change began on February 6, 2026, when Shanghai Port adjusted operating rules, making port opening times based on actual vessel arrivals. This greatly compresses the window for container loading and port entry operations. This means the conventional practice of "waiting for port opening before loading" no longer works—all cargo must be loaded in advance and kept on standby ready for customs declaration and port entry, otherwise missing the sailing schedule becomes highly likely.

The situation at Yangshan Port is equally severe. Reports indicate that Yangshan Port drop-off fees have entered "daily increase mode," rapidly rising from the initial 1,000+ yuan per container to 1,200+ yuan, and now breaking through the 1,500 yuan threshold, with prices changing daily, bringing enormous cost pressure to freight forwarders and cargo owners.

Ningbo Port is currently operating in obvious overload conditions. The yard utilization rates at Beiyi Container Terminal and Meishan Terminal have approached the 95% warning line. The terminal implements appointment-based entry, stopping container acceptance when single-vessel container volumes exceed plans by 20%, with whole-vessel cargo rolling even occurring. Currently, Ningbo Port drop-off fees have risen to 1,500–2,000 yuan per container, towing fees have increased approximately 80%, cargo rolling probability has reached 30%, and shipping company overbooking rates have also hit 30%. Shipping efficiency has been severely affected.

Congestion at major South China ports has not eased and the situation is more severe than before. Yantian Port's heavy container yards are basically saturated, with approximately 1,500 container return slots released daily often snapped up within an hour. Towing fees have skyrocketed from approximately 1,800 yuan per container on normal days to 5,000–5,500 yuan per container, with a cargo rolling probability of about 40% and shipping company overbooking rates as high as 60%. Shekou Port's SCT and CCT terminals are overwhelmed with almost no slots available for appointment. Chiwan Terminal has issued a warning of "route overbooking, document processing suspended." Towing fees have surged 200%, with a 40% cargo rolling rate and 40% shipping company overbooking rate.

Nansha Port has become the most severely congested area currently, with Phase II and III terminal yard utilization exceeding 95% and truck queuing times generally exceeding 6 hours. Since January 29, 2026, Nansha Port has implemented the ETA-5 new rule, only accepting heavy containers within 5 days before sailing, accompanied by strict "three-strike penalty" control measures. Towing fees have risen approximately 300%, cargo rolling probability has soared to 55%, and shipping company overbooking rates have reached 60%.

Industry insiders generally believe this round of congestion is mainly caused by three factors: the pre-holiday concentrated shipping peak, shipping company overbooking (some routes exceeding terminal capacity by 40–60%), and continuous pre-holiday towing capacity shortages. Currently, the overall time for goods to move from factories to vessels has extended from the normal 5–7 days to 10–14 days. We urgently recommend all cargo owners: be sure to plan shipping schedules in advance, maintain close communication with freight forwarders, fully consider additional congestion time and soaring logistics costs, prepare contingency plans in advance, and minimize the risks of cargo rolling and uncontrollable cost losses to the greatest extent possible.