January 7, 2021 – Generally, factories in China close for the duration of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday – this year from February 12 to 26 – but 2021 looks like it could be different, with varying closure dates across the country. In southern China, lots of factories will shut down much earlier than usual this year; people are off from the middle of January, a month prior to CNY so the last feeder sailing is closed earlier than before, like by January 20, which means the cargo ex-factory date should be also the middle of January. Some factories have advanced the holiday starting time, but also advanced the re-opening time, to differ from the others. Everyone does it their own way now. Others claim some factories will stay open as the Chinese government looks to minimize the movement of people owing to COVID-19.