We supply a large proportion of our customers based on a schedule agreement, where we manufacture at our Asia plant and hold stock in the UK to meet the customer’s weekly or monthly requirements – find out more on how this could benefit you on our blog post.

With this in mind, we have to consider our stock levels and plan accordingly for Chinese New Year, as the factories and ports close to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Our plants and shipping agents in China will be closed from the 15th January 2025 to 17th February 2025.

If we have agreed a call-off or schedule; we will have your stock in various stages of completion, available at all times.

There will be parts stocked at Chartway in the UK, parts already on the water en-route to us, and parts already made in Asia ready to ship.

Each year, we prepare for Chinese New Year in the same way. Using a mixture of customer portals (EDI/Vendor Management) and our in-house reporting, we will closely analyse all customer schedules and forecasts to get an idea of the stock requirements for the period.

We then begin to bring in buffer stock to cover the period where no manufacture or shipping will be available to us; to ensure that even if you have a spike in demand, we will have stock on hand.

If any stock is required over and above the forecasted demand, we also have UK manufacturing facilities available as a contingency option to top up any stock requirements.

The date of Lunar New Year differs every year. In 2025 it occurs on the 29th January and marks the year of the snake.

The Chinese zodiac is derived from a folk tale known as the Great Race, in which all twelve animals compete in a race to cross a great river in order to reach the Jade Emperor. The order in which they completed the race is the order in which the years are named: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

It is believed that the snake, in order to compensate for not being a great swimmer, hitched a ride on the horse’s hoof. When coming out of the river, the snake scared the horse and was able to beat it to 6th place; hence it being the 6th sign in the Chinese Zodiac.

Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns on how Chinese New Year may impact your deliveries for existing schedules or lead times on any new enquiries.