No end in sight to Shanghai’s lockdown
China’s most populous city has yet to give an indication of when lockdown measures will lift, fuelling greater uncertainty for those involved in global logistics.
Shanghai’s daily Covid-19 infections set a record for the sixth straight day on Thursday, as citywide mass testing identified 19,982 cases in China’s financial and commercial hub.
EU Chamber of Commerce in China members estimated yesterday that Shanghai port volumes are down by about 40% week-on-week, despite the port’s operator insisting that it is business as usual at Yangshan and Waigaoqiao thanks to a bubble working environment at the quayside.
Cargo volumes through the port tracked by FourKites, a supply chain data firm, had dropped by about a third since March 12 as shippers reroute freight elsewhere.
Last week, a survey of American businesses in China found that 54% of respondents have lowered 2022 revenue projections for the year due to the latest Covid-19 outbreak. Among manufacturers, more than 80% reported slowed or reduced production, as well as supply chain disruptions.
An update from Japanese container line Ocean Network Express (ONE) yesterday said that the limited trucking availability has impeded the clearance of import cargoes.
While Shanghai is hogging the headlines, the fallout from Beijing’s pursuit of a zero-Covid strategy is causing lockdown havoc across vast swathes of the world’s most populous nation.
