Shanghai lockdown advisory - impact so far

Updated 26th April 2022

Shanghai
Shanghai continues to feel the hardest effects of COVID-19, with lockdown extended to at least May. Air and ocean freight are seeing a significant level of disruption, whilst LCL and road freight are severely impacted causing most cargo to be rerouted to other cities such as Ningbo. Rail freight, however, is still operating at a good level.

The city will be officially divided into three separate risk levels: sealed area, controlled area and prevention area. Districts will moved between risk levels dependent on COVID-19 case numbers and the severity of cases. Most warehousing facilities have suspended services due to overcapacity caused by an increase in congestion and delays of ocean freight. Although ocean ports are not directly affected by restrictions, the ban of all international flights into Shanghai has led to much lower capacity availability, whilst the acceptance of inbound dangerous goods cargo has also been suspended for the next fortnight.

Shenzhen

Shenzhen has seen a positive recovery from previously strict restrictions, with lockdown widely lifted and ground handling at the airport now returning to normal. Road freight is still lightly impacted with negative tests still mandatory for truckers.

Ningbo
Ningbo's ocean and air ports continue to face congestion and delays, however there is no direct COVID-19 impact. A shortage of truck drivers is leading to storage and warehousing capacity challenges, as containers build up whilst drivers are still made to undertake mandatory testing.

Tianjin
Tianjin remains mainly unaffected, however road freight is severely limited on inland routes.

Qingdao

Mass testing across the city has come to an end with no additional restrictions being implemented. Air cargo is seeing longer than usual processing times, whilst pick-ups and deliveries are also taking longer due to case by case checks.

Hong Kong

Although the city is under tight residential restrictions, many service businesses are able to operate as normal to support the movement of cargo. However, cross-border links could see minor disruption due to local rules.

All other cities remain in a state of alert but are not under severe risk of disruption.

Updated 20th April 2022

Shenyang
The closure of Shenyang airport is causing disruption to airfreight in the region, with cargo being routed via Beijing instead.
Ocean shipments are being routed through Dailan and some trucking movements are being affected by the 48 hour nucleic COVID-19 testing.

Shanghai
With the latest government announcement, noting over 2,500 new cases and over 25,000 asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, it is unlikely restrictions will ease until early May.
LCL is still seeing delays with staff shortages affecting operations.

Updated 11th April 2022

Shanghai is entering its third week of lockdown with record numbers of 26,000 new cases in 24 hours as unrest is reported over availability of supplies. 

• Both airport and port remain open. Air rates have seen a sharp increase as Shanghai Pudong International Airport has faced significant flight cancellations since April 1st.
• Warehouses remain closed until further notice.

While Shanghai is in complete lockdown, Ningbo is now on 'yellow alert' with some cases having been found. Warehouses in Beilun are full with the Shanghai lockdown causing congestion in Ningbo. Space is tight and there is lack of 40' & 40HC equipment. Meanwhile, in the North, many factories in Qingdao are still closed with bookings postponed or cancelled and blank sailings increasing throughout April. However, Xingang port is operating normally with good space availability and rates to Europe, the UK and USA. The South is seeing some respite as well, with ports, container terminals and carrier schedules operating normally across Xiamen and Yantian. Guangzhou however is facing increased lockdowns with new cases having been found, resulting in space constraints and delays. 

Across China, trucking services are still a key concern, with mandatory PCR tests, positive Covid cases and trucks unable to cross borders causing significantly reduced availability unable to meet the high demand, and rates subject to continued increases.

Updated 7th April 2022

Please see below the most up to date information:

• All terminals remain open
• More and more carriers are omitting Shanghai port, with some lines advising that 30% of their sailings will now avoid the port
• 30% of container yards are closed and most warehouses are closed
• Only container trucks are allowed to move in and out of the city, however LCL trucks cannot move on the road so capacity has decreased
• More and more places are refusing to allow Shanghai truckers to enter, resulting in around 60% of movements being cancelled
• River service capacity is tight because of previous poor weather and equipment shortages
• Carriers have rerouted cargo to Ningbo port to avoid major disruption, however space is becoming tight at Ningbo with increased volume

Air Freight

• PVG open and operational, freight being handled is mainly clearing of cargo that was delivered pre-lockdown
• Shortage of trucks available to deliver cargo to the airport
• Some terminals have provided sleeping facilities to ensure their workforce is not locked down, however, with some workers locked down at home there is an operational impact
• Magnetic tests suspended until 1st April - any cargo requiring these tests cannot be handled

Ocean Freight LCL

• Staff shortages are having negative effects on operational efficiency
• Warehouses have stopped accepting new cargo
• Shortage of trucking availability
• While berth congestion has widely stabilised, delays between 1-2 days are expected at most ports, impacting the movement of goods.

Ocean Freight FCL

• WGQ and Yangshan ports remain operational, however some depots have closed
• A shortage of workers is reducing operational efficiency
• A truck driver shortage is slowing operations at port terminals with cargo unable to be delivered to port

Originally published 28th March 2022

The biggest city-wide lockdown since Covid first broke out more than two years ago will see the eastern side of the city under strict lockdown from today until 1 April, following which the western part will be in lockdown from 1st - 5th April.

Public transport will be suspended, and businesses and factories will halt operations or work from home while the population undergoes several rounds of testing to control the latest surge of Coronavirus infections. Shanghai is home to 25 million people, a key financial and logistics hub, and this lockdown is expected to impact supply chains in due course.

Ports are so far still operating normally.

However, there is significant disruption to truck movements already, particularly from neighbouring provinces with trucks being forced to turn back on their way to Shanghai port, leaving a large part of the cargo ready for loading today unable to be transported to the port.

While some FCL trucks are still running within Shanghai, LTL trucks are not allowed to enter Pudong. As a result, there will likely be a significant impact on LCL cargo.

This is a quickly developing situation. We will continue to keep you updated.

If you have any questions about your Asia shipments or would like to discuss alternative supply chain planning, please contact our dedicated team here.