As Shanghai enters the fourth week of an indefinite lockdown, container shipping lines are skipping calls at main Shanghai terminals, with more blank sailings anticipated as vessels waiting at Chinese ports double. Until the lockdown situation is resolved, which appears challenging when putting the Omicron variant against zero-tolerance, we expect drops in export demand, port …
China’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, expanding 4.8%, but the risk of a sharp slowdown over coming months has risen as Shanghai’s lockdown is extended indefinitely and further COVID-19 curbs may follow. Nearly all of Shanghai is now under lockdown, with most residents unable leave their homes, even for food, while …
The lifting of COVID restrictions in parts of Shanghai this week has been postponed after nearly 20,000 new cases were reported on Monday. While the primary port terminals and airport remain open, most workers are in locked-down neighbourhoods and the impact on production and inland logistics is severely limiting supply chain operations. With limited goods available to despatch, demand for air …
Since the early days of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global supply chains, creating shortages of goods, even though ships, trains, trucks and planes continued to run, to the best of their ability. The infrastructure that supports global supply chain operations has struggled to absorb the continuing impacts emanating from COVID-19; including the need …
After recording its highest daily number of cases on Saturday, with Omicron leading a spike, Shanghai, China’s most populous city and a global financial hub, will be locked down in two stages over nine days while authorities carry out infection testing. Authorities had so far resisted locking down the city of some 25 million people …
Following their seven-day lockdown, Shenzhen has reopened for business, but it could take weeks for cargo flows to recover, with vessels queuing and Yantian port throughput down 40%, amid concerns that COVID surges in other regions will affect supply chains, as strict controls, restrictions on inland transport, extensive testing and lockdowns has ramifications on supply chain operations. With a third of the world’s manufacturing …
Earlier today authorities in Langfang, which borders Beijing and Dongguan in the southern province of Guangdong imposed immediate seven-day lockdowns, joining Shenzhen, which started a seven day lockdown on Sunday, while the entire province of Jilin has been placed in complete lockdown and Hong Kong restrictions are continuing, as China’s COVID cases jump. COVID cases …
When global supply chains finally start to return to some form of normality, which many hope to see in the second half of the year, carriers face more headaches, with an avalanche of empty containers predicted to cause chaos. Who would have thought it? Full year 2021 demand for sea freight growth was 6.5% compared to …
The lockdowns and restrictions that China’s zero-Covid strategy risk, may create greater disruption than earlier waves of the pandemic, threatening already stretched global supply chains. Beijing’s strict zero-Covid policy has curbed local outbreaks with mass testing, snap lockdowns, vigilant surveillance and extensive quarantines, but new variants such as Omicron have seen outbreaks intensify since the …
The Omicron variant is likely to be another test of supply chain resilience and could pose a threat to global economic recovery, particularly if China enforces its ‘zero-COVID’ policy, to prevent cases entering. Yesterday evening’s announcement by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, of a new work from home directive and further actions to try and …