- Eastern China’s two main container ports worsened by congestion due to Covid.
- Congestion has been building up at container ports in Shanghai and Ningbo.
Congestion around the two main container ports in eastern China has worsened following a shutdown caused by rising Covid cases, reports Citya.m.
Covid effects’ Disruption
Forty container ships were waiting at the outer Zhoushan anchorage today, up from 30 on Tuesday when the positive case was reported, according to Refinitiv data.
Meidong terminal has suspended all operations since early Wednesday, while other terminals in Ningbo imposed restrictions limiting the number of people and cargo entering port areas.
Turning Back Vessels
Meidong’s owner Ningbo Zhoushan Port Co said in a statement today it would divert the vessels due to call at Meidong to other terminals in Ningbo and will coordinate with other ports to ease the backlog.
Ports in nearby Shanghai, where many vessels are being re-routed, are seeing the worst congestion in at least three years. About 30 vessels are queuing outside Yangshan port, a key container terminal in Shanghai, Refinitiv data showed.
Dominating Delta Variant
It comes as tightening restrictions to tackle China’s latest coronavirus outbreak begin to hit more parts of the economy. The highly transmissible Delta variant has been detected in more than a dozen cities since late July.
The latest jams follow massive disruptions to container handling in southern China in June, when ports near Shenzhen imposed stringent Covid containment measures leading to dozens of container vessels stuck in traffic.
Global Supply Chain Disruption
Ports in the east of the country are also battling to clear backlogs caused by a typhoon last month.
The latest wave of port congestion in eastern China could further drive up container shipping rates, which recently topped $20,000 per 40-foot box for the first time on the critical China-US route as rising retailer orders ahead of the peak US shopping season added strain to global supply chains.
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Source: Citya.m
