Impact of Yantian port closure on Asia exports

Update 31st May:

The port has started to accept laden containers again but with a limit of 5000 per day.

There are currently about 23,000 fully loaded containers waiting to be cleared in factories, streets and warehouses around Yantian port area.

Containers can only be delivered 3 days before departure and since all ships are delayed between 3-6 days, containers will need to wait on the chassis / trucks while waiting for vessels to berth which results in further pressure on the increasing truck shortage.

It is reported that 96% of the space inside Yantian port is taken up, meaning a lot of laden containers waiting for vessels to be loaded in addition to those waiting outside the port.

Some carriers have decided to either omit South China entirely for a lot of the sailings in the coming 10 days or re-route ships to other ports such as Nansha.

Vessel schedules out of Shenzhen will be significantly affected by this disruption, the extent of which is yet unknown. This is further compounding the issues currently felt by the ocean freight trade out of Asia as recently reported on here and here.

China Outports

Please be reminded that feeder services from China outports to main ports have become increasingly expensive to operate with carriers focusing their attention on the main China ports where demand is at its highest. The impact of this is seriously affecting the ability to handle business from China outports with services being cut and equipment simply not being made available. More on China main ports and outports can be found here.