China - overview of key supply chain locations and Covid-19 restrictions
Following this week’s update on Shenzhen lifting its lockdown restrictions, please find below a general overview of key locations across China.
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Shenzhen: The severe lockdown has been lifted with factories resuming production and transport operational. Due to the lower productivity in ports, the congestion at Shenzhen port has worsened again with a backlog of cargo to sort through. However, the slowed container turnover and increase in yard density with container terminals such as Chiwan, Shekou and Mawan having restricted the gate-in of laden containers to up to four days before the vessels’ estimated time of berthing, from March 21.
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Shanghai: While office operations have predominantly resumed, there are still a lot of restrictions in and around Shanghai.
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Workers in Nanjing and Suzhou are still working from home and some major cities in Jiangsu ( Changzhou) are still currently in lockdown. This will continue to result in cancelled bookings as factories close on short notice as a result of Covid or close contact cases shutting down parts of the cities. Meanwhile, port operations have resumed and the strain on the trucking industry has also eased a bit.
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North China: Most offices in Tianjin are closed until further notice, while a lot of factories and production are also seriously impacted in the Hebei province – which is the main production area for Xingang port. As a result, a lot of bookings are cancelled and postponed here as well, yet the port operates normally
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The North East of China remains the main area driving the current infections so we are seeing a lot of lockdowns/partial lockdowns in Dalian/Shenyang/Changchun.
While efforts are being made to keep supply chains running and factories open, the zero-tolerance Covid policy in combination with Omicron will continue to disrupt supply chains and create delays to orders getting onto the quay for shipment, while carriers may hold ships or implement blank sailings until they can see an opportunity to achieve full load factors.
The situation is extremely quick-changing and we will keep you updated as it develops. If you have any questions about your Asia shipments or would like to discuss alternative supply chain planning, please contact our dedicated team here.