Russians risk not receiving their orders from Chinese online stores for the New Year

“The delays in products from China delivered to Russia by rail and sea this year are so great that they need to make a purchase within the next week. Otherwise, the cargo will not be delivered before the New Year,” says Novelco.

The most popular products to order are consumer electronics, perfumes, and clothing.

What can cause delays:

• According to Novelco, lead times for products from China have increased by 20-30% on average compared to last year. The main reasons for the delays are the 100% loading of the port terminals and the low speed of the export containers in a context of shortage of railway platforms. The ships are on raids in the ports of the Far East for 30 days.
• FM Logistic adds that in recent weeks, several train stations in China’s northern regions “canceled shipments due to the worsening epidemiological situation.”
• According to Russian Railways, in October the load of imported containerized cargo from Far Eastern ports is “20% higher than the same period last year.” As a result, an imbalance has formed with the arrival of platforms with export containers.
• Stalogistic attributed the longer wait time for parcel shipping by rail to the fact that now “priority is given to shipping coal and wood.”

According to Novelco’s calculations, the delivery time for goods from the port of Shanghai via Vladivostok to Moscow is about 45 days. At the same time, if you choose a cheaper delivery option, the time will increase to “50-60 days or more”.

Direct container trains from China to Moscow take about 50 days on average. But in this case, delays are noted: at the Alashankou border crossing – up to two weeks, Zabaikalsk and Dostyk – about five days. Road delivery from central Chinese cities to Moscow takes 31-35 days. But for consolidated cargo, it is necessary to additionally establish another 7-10 days “for consolidation and processing”.