What is Lunar New Year and How Does if Affect my Imports/Exports?

If you’re new to the world of international shipping, you might not consider what kind of holidays overseas may disrupt or delay service for US based companies. One such holiday is Lunar New Year.

Lunar New Year is celebrated in China as well as other countries across Asia. As you might expect, it’s celebrated at a different time than we celebrate the New Year here in the United States.

Here’s how it works: Lunar New Year begins on the first new moon of the year and concludes 15 days later with the first full moon. Because of this, the dates of the new year aren’t the same from year to year. It can begin anywhere from January 21st and February 20th. If you’d like to learn more about the holiday itself, a link has been included to a Britannica entry.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lunar-New-Year

Image from Tran Huy via Unsplash

For 2026, Lunar New Year begins February 17th. If you’d like to know about future years, you can check them out with this source through 2045.

Future Lunar New Years: https://weeksfromtoday.com/lunar-new-year-dates/

Image from John Xiao via Unsplash

What Countries are Affected?

Most countries across East and Southeast Asia celebrate Lunar New Year. There are of course different customs in the celebrations, but they also view the holiday a little different from country to country. In Japan for example, while celebrated, it is not a national holiday. However, it is a national holiday for many countries across Asia and that means service closures if you do business with these countries. Some countries celebrate only the day itself, while others celebrate longer.

Here is our list of the countries and dates for Lunar New Year 2026 in which you can expect service delays/outages:

• Vietnam: February 14th-22nd
• China: February 15th-23rd
• Taiwan: February 16th-20th
• Hong Kong: February 17th-19th
• Macao: February 17th-19th
• Malaysia: February 17th-18th
• South Korea: February 16th-19th
• Singapore: February 17th-18th
• Thailand: February 17th
• Indonesia: February 17th
• Philippines: February 17th

How Can I Prepare?

The best thing you can do to avoid being affected by the delays is to act now, and this looks different depending on your company and what line of work you’re in. You may want to prestock your supplies if you rely on a lot of imports from these countries so you don’t have shortages through February. You may have to send your exports to Asia a little early, especially if its a product subject to additional regulations. Basically, if you can’t afford to wait during these holidays, then you should act now.

If you have any other concerns, as always, OptimalShip is willing and able to help you out and review options with you.

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