August's pressures haven't lifted and September adds a seasonal biosecurity requirement plus fresh disruption at origin that wasn't in play last month.
Here's what to plan around for September.
Capacity into New Zealand remains tight across all Asian origins, including China, with bookings needing to be placed at least 5 days ahead just to secure space — and 3–4 weeks ahead is the safer margin given how quickly services are filling. Congestion has worsened at origin: recent weather events in Eastern China have pushed berthing wait-times at Shanghai and Ningbo above 5 days, and it's disrupting the three main direct services into New Zealand. The ANZEX (ANL), CNS (COSCO/OOCL) and NCS (PIL) service is the most affected, alternating omissions of Shanghai or Ningbo on each sailing and building large roll pools at both origins. The JKN (COSCO/OOCL), NZJ (ONE) and J-Star (Maersk) service, which only calls Shanghai, is also losing capacity every time it has to skip that call.
We're also in typhoon season (July–September), which raises the risk of further delay on top of the congestion already in the system. CMA CGM has suspended new bookings on its Europe–NZ-via-Asia routing due to peak season congestion — a sign of how tight things have become across multiple carriers, not just the direct NZ services.
*NZ-specific rate restoration and PSS levels for September are still being confirmed on our side — talk to your KLN Oceania contact before committing to a quote.
1. BMSB Risk Season Begins 1 September
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug seasonal measures start on 1 September and apply to target risk goods manufactured in or shipped from listed risk countries. Procedures are expected to run the same as last season. If you import target goods from risk countries, offshore treatment before shipment is the most reliable way to avoid border delays — talk to us early if you haven't already built this into your Q4 planning.
2. Origin Congestion Is Now a Bigger Risk Than Blank Sailings
The story has shifted from carrier-managed capacity discipline to weather-driven congestion at the ports themselves. With Shanghai and Ningbo berthing delays running over 5 days and roll pools building on the main direct NZ services, cargo-ready dates are less predictable than usual this month. Build buffer into your planning rather than working to published ETAs.
3. Typhoon Season Adds a Live Disruption Risk Through September
We're in the July–September typhoon window. Combined with the congestion already affecting North Asian ports, this raises the chance of further schedule disruption on top of what's already occurring. Flexibility on routing and sailing dates will help absorb any further hits.
4. MSC's Capacity Gap and Landside Costs Are Still the Underlying Pressure
There's still no direct MSC option from Asia to New Zealand, and Auckland VBS fees remain at $230 peak / $115 off-peak. Nothing new here versus August, but it's worth remembering these are ongoing costs stacking on top of whatever September's congestion adds — not one-off items that have already been absorbed into your budget.
5. Airfreight Is Still Absorbing Ocean Overflow, and Jet Fuel Surcharges Are Rising
Larger volumes of cargo are converting from ocean to air as importers respond to sea freight delays and congestion. At the same time, carriers have flagged that airfreight fuel surcharges are likely to increase this month due to rising jet fuel costs. If time-critical cargo is part of your supply chain, expect both tighter space and a higher cost base for it this month.
September marks the start of Oceania's true peak shipping season (September–November), and it's opening with more origin disruption than a typical peak-season start — congestion at Shanghai and Ningbo is doing more damage to schedule reliability right now than carrier-managed blank sailings. Layer BMSB compliance requirements, ongoing landside costs at Auckland, and airfreight absorbing ocean overflow on top of that, and September is a month where planning ahead matters more than usual, not less.
The positions that matter most right now: cargo-ready dates built with real buffer against origin delays; BMSB compliance sorted before goods ship, not after they arrive; and bookings placed well ahead of the 3–4 week minimum multiple carriers are now recommending.
September opens Oceania's peak season with more friction at origin than carriers alone are creating: congestion at Shanghai and Ningbo, plus typhoon season risk, means schedule reliability is the bigger question this month, not just rate levels. Combined with the BMSB compliance requirement landing on day one of the month, September rewards importers who've already locked in bookings and sorted documentation, and penalises those planning on the fly.