Don’t Put All Your Cargo in One Basket: Exploring Asia Beyond China

Sep 17 / Tania Nicolson
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” For importers, that phrase has never been more relevant.

For decades, China has been the manufacturing powerhouse, driving down costs, scaling production, and offering almost every commodity imaginable. But rising tariffs, shifting trade policies, and supply chain shocks have made businesses rethink the wisdom of relying so heavily on a single market.

At Freight Lab 360, we’re seeing more companies weigh the pros and cons of diversifying their sourcing across Asia. The key question: Which countries can step in, and how do their freight options compare?

The real risk? Overexposure. If 90% of your supply chain depends on one country, every disruption hits harder. That’s why smart businesses are starting to ask: Where else should we be sourcing?

Looking Beyond China: The Alternatives

Diversifying sourcing isn’t as simple as swapping one country for another. Each Asian market offers its own mix of commodity strengths, cost advantages, infrastructure challenges, and freight routing options. The real question for importers is: how do these trade-offs stack up against China’s established efficiency? By weighing up both the opportunities and the hidden costs, businesses can decide which markets truly make sense for their products and long-term strategy.

India
  • Commodity strengths: Textiles, leather, chemicals, homewares, consumer goods, auto parts.
  • Ports & routing: Key gateways include Mundra and Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru). Direct sailings to Australia and Europe are increasing, but congestion and inconsistent inland connectivity remain pain points.
  • Airfreight: Delhi and Mumbai are major hubs. Airfreight capacity has improved, but uplift frequency is less reliable than Hong Kong or Shanghai.
  • Consideration: Attractive labour costs and government incentives, but businesses must factor in potential delays and more complex customs procedures

    Barriers 
    • Port congestion at Nhava Sheva and Mundra can add days of delay.
    • Inconsistent inland logistics (road and rail) drive up trucking costs and reduce reliability.
    • Complex customs and regulatory procedures can slow clearance.
    • Labour productivity is lower compared to China or Vietnam, affecting turnaround times.
    • Infrastructure gaps (warehousing, cold chain, container handling) are improving but still uneven.

Vietnam
  • Commodity strengths: Garments, footwear, furniture, electronics assembly.
  • Ports & routing: Hai Phong (north) and Ho Chi Minh (south) are well integrated into intra-Asia services and transhipment hubs like Singapore.
  • Transit times to Australia are competitive, often just days longer than South China.
  • Airfreight: Ho Chi Minh is growing fast as a regional export hub, especially for e-commerce parcels and electronics.
  • Consideration: Excellent for smaller-scale, fast-growth manufacturing. But heavy reliance on raw material imports (often from China) means supply chains may not be fully independent.

Barriers

  • Raw material dependency on China undermines independence of the supply chain.

  • Smaller production capacity compared to China, limiting scalability for high-volume orders.

  • Rising labour costs compared to Bangladesh or India.

  • Port congestion risk at peak export seasons, especially at Hai Phong.

  • Vulnerability to policy shifts (e.g. U.S. trade pressures, export quotas).


Bangladesh
  • Commodity strengths: Ready-made garments (second-largest exporter globally).
  • Ports & routing: Chittagong handles the bulk of exports but suffers chronic congestion and limited sailing schedules. Many containers are feedered to Colombo (Sri Lanka) or Singapore for transhipment.
  • Airfreight: Dhaka is the main hub but with limited international frequencies compared to India or Vietnam.
  • Consideration: Labour is inexpensive, but freight reliability is weaker. Delays in both shipping and customs clearance are common.

Barriers

  • Chronic congestion at Chittagong port, leading to weeks-long delays.

  • Limited direct sailings – heavy reliance on feedering via Colombo or Singapore adds cost and time.

  • Weaker logistics infrastructure (roads, warehousing, container depots).

  • Frequent political and labour unrest disrupt supply chains.

  • Airfreight limitations – fewer direct flights, higher rates, and limited capacity.


Malaysia
  • Commodity strengths: Electronics, rubber products, palm oil, processed food.
  • Ports & routing: Port Klang is the main gateway, efficient and well-connected with direct services to Australia, Europe, and the U.S. Transhipment through Singapore adds flexibility.
  • Airfreight: Kuala Lumpur International Airport is a strong hub with consistent uplift options.
  • Consideration: Higher labour and compliance costs than Vietnam or Bangladesh, but stronger logistics reliability, regulatory standards, and infrastructure make it attractive for higher-value goods.

Barriers

  • Higher labour and compliance costs than Vietnam, India, or Bangladesh.

  • Smaller labour pool limits very high-volume, low-cost production.

  • Peak season competition for capacity due to electronics and automotive exports.

  • Reliance on the Strait of Malacca creates exposure to regional shipping disruptions.


Thailand

  • Commodity strengths: Automotive parts, electronics, machinery, processed food, rubber products.

  • Ports & routing: Laem Chabang is Thailand’s primary deep-sea port, efficient and well-connected regionally and globally. Transit times to Australia are competitive.

  • Airfreight: Bangkok (BKK) is a major Southeast Asian hub with regular cargo capacity.

  • Consideration: Higher costs than low-cost producers, but supply chains are sophisticated, with good compliance and quality standards. Particularly strong for automotive and electronics exporters.
Barriers
  • Higher production costs than low-cost manufacturing markets like Vietnam or Bangladesh.

  • Labour shortages in manufacturing-intensive industries.

  • Port congestion risk at Laem Chabang during peak export seasons.

  • Strong competition for airfreight uplift with automotive and electronics shipments.

  • Less attractive for low-value goods that depend heavily on ultra-low labour costs.


 Why This Matters for E-Commerce Importers
Staying “all in” on China has clear benefits: unmatched production scale, established supplier networks, frequent sailings, reliable airfreight capacity, and shorter transit times for most major trade lanes. For importers, this translates to predictability, lower logistics risk, and simplicity.

But it also carries risks. Tariffs, factory shutdowns, political tensions, and port congestion can quickly disrupt the flow of goods. When 90% of your sourcing depends on one market, even small disruptions can ripple through your business—raising costs, extending lead times, or leaving you without stock when your customers expect it most.

Diversifying across India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, or Bangladesh spreads those risks, but it introduces new barriers:
  • Longer transits – sourcing from India or Bangladesh can add 7–10 days compared to South China.
  • Port and customs delays – congestion at Nhava Sheva or Chittagong may offset production savings.
  • Complexity in coordination – managing multiple suppliers across different countries requires more oversight and stronger freight planning.
  • Inconsistent logistics infrastructure – while Malaysia and Thailand run efficiently, India and Bangladesh still face inland bottlenecks.

The trade-off is clear:
♦  Stay concentrated in China → more efficient but higher risk exposure.
♦  Diversify across Asia → more resilient but more complex  to manage.

Who Cares?
For e-commerce importers, the decision isn’t about abandoning China, but about balancing efficiency and resilience, it means building resilience, negotiating power, and flexibility. Each market comes with opportunities and barriers, but together they give you options. And in logistics, options equal strength.

At Freight Lab 360, we care because this is where businesses win or lose in global trade. Our role is to simplify the complexity: to show you where the opportunities are, highlight the risks you need to plan for, and give you the freight intelligence to make smarter sourcing decisions.

If you’d like to master your freight, book a FREE Freight Strategy Call today—so you can focus on what you do best: selling your products.
Created with