China’s port to further disrupt shipping industry

Global shipping industry faces a big hit again as Yantian, one of the busiest ports of China declared that it won’t be accepting new export containers. This is further addition to the hits by pandemic in the form of inflation pressures and delays in delivery. The announcement was made in late May, assuming that it would reopen in a few days. However, the partial lockdown still continues, leading to further disruption in trade routes and rise in freight prices. 

The port now declares that it will be functioning normally by June end. However, it will take months for the blockage of cargoes in Southern China to clear while the impact of disruption is felt by ports across the world. 

“The trend is worrying, and unceasing congestion is becoming a global problem,” A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, commented. The situation of the port in South China is one more “in a string of disasters we’ve seen plague the global supply chain,” according to Nerijus Poskus, vice president at ocean strategy and carrier development for Flexport Inc. He further estimate that the congestion in Yantian will get clear in next 6 to 8 weeks. It is an issue as it extends the caused disruptions into the late-summer period of peak demand by Europe and US.