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Few blank sailings have been announced for January, and none this week, as shippers in Asia get their cargo on the water ahead of China’s Lunar New Year factory shutdown.

The deals for nine feeder container ships and four multipurpose and heavy-lift ships total around $490 million, according to Cosco and shipbrokers.

While the new delay — on products reliant on wood imports —provides a respite for importers of the affected goods, it prolongs for another year a period of uncertainty over how tariffs might impact the cost of what they sell.

MPV carriers confessed they were keeping a wary eye on the other sectors that traditionally compete with MPVs, with the container sector expected to cause the most angst heading into 2026.

Love’s and Circle K were among the retailers to sign new or expanded supplier deals, while Kwik Trip and RaceTrac opened distribution centers.

But tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper could present challenges for energy and data center construction projects.

With vessel capacity outstripping volumes on the major trade lanes, analysts expect carriers to fall into the red as early as the first quarter, culminating in a multi-billion-dollar combined loss for the full year.

The U.S. is pushing back duty increases due to “productive negotiations” with trading partners, keeping the current 25% rate in effect.

Months of frontloading explain the sharp volume slowdown in the final months of 2025, and with consumer sentiment weak and long-term trade policies still uncertain, US retailers are keeping inventories lean in early 2026.

The use of real-time cargo status data is expected to make trade finance more efficient, reducing credit costs and processing and payment times, the Hong Kong government said.