By Ashley Kao.    Photo：Emre Can Acer

Warning! The storage yards of Shanghai will be silent for three days in turn from 5/8, and the receiving and dispatching containers will be suspended!

Affected by the pandemic, different districts in Shanghai will take turns to implement control. Starting from the 8th, most of the outer port yards have implemented a policy of suspending receiving and dispatching containers for three days. If the yard is closed, please communicate with the shipping company in time to open the yard for operation.

On the 8th, Korea Shipping issued the "Notice of Temporary Closure of Donghua San/Yifa Yards". The notice stated that in order to cooperate with the government's pandemic prevention requirements, the Donghua San and Yifa piles will be suspended from 5/8, and the work of all receiving and dispatching containers will be suspended. It will wait for further notice from the relevant departments to resume operations. It is expected to be silent for 3 days, and work can be resumed on 5/11. All relevant parties need to pay attention to updated information.

Shanghai gradually unblock and resumed operations, whether there will be another port crisis? 

According to Chinese authorities, container freight rates have been falling continuously, but the follow-up to China's unblocking and resumption of work, coupled with the accumulation of empty containers in the US, may trigger a new wave of port crisis.

In addition, the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on Europe has also begun to decrease, and the decline in freight rates from the Far East to Europe has been decreasing week by week. The closure of Shanghai in April this year severely impacted the container shipping market, with the volume of containers shipped from China to U.S. ports falling to a new low in nearly a year. The shipping industry predicts that once mainland China re-ships shipments, a large number of vessels will go to the USWC, and the waiting period for vessels will inevitably lengthen, and the pressure on global port congestion will increase, even more serious than last year.

After the pandemic has slowed down, major factories in Shanghai have made every effort to rush shipments. The peak season for small shipments is expected in early May. The market demand may rebound rapidly, and the excessively suppressed demand will also begin to increase. Negotiations for US workers to exchange contracts will also exacerbate supply chain imbalances.

At present, a large number of empty containers are piled up at the east and west coast terminals of the US. However, Asia, which has a high demand, is facing a shortage of containers, resulting in an imbalance in the supply of containers in the east and west. The operation efficiency of the west US terminal is low, and workers are faced with a mountain of empty containers. Low, the situation is not optimistic. At present, the number of idle container ships in the world is approaching zero, and many carriers have adjusted their flights to prepare for the rush to ship in May.

The below is the feedback from China and Southeast Asia branches in week 18,

Shenzhen

Seaport:

The market freight rate maintained the same as last week.

Airport:

The space is tight, it is necessary to book in advance, and the freight rate maintained.

Hong Kong

Seaport:

Due to the pandemic impact, the transportation from China to Hong Kong was affected. However, the policy is gradually being relieved, and the transportation through Hong Kong will improve in May.

Airport:

Air space is eased down compared with last week.

Shanghai

Seaport:

The market freight rate maintained the same as last week.

Airport:

Shanghai is still under lockdown this week. Picking up cargos in nearby cities requires strict requirements for drivers and vehicles and needs to be reported and reviewed in advance. The delivery fee has increased by 4-6 times. As long as the cargos can be sent to the Shanghai warehouse, the agent can accept the high delivery fee and freight, and the general cargo can do the customs clearance.

Ningbo

The market freight rates this week was the same as last week. However, in some areas, containers cannot be moved (such as Fenghua District) due to the pandemic.

Xiamen/Dalian

After May holidays, the freight rate remained same. Due to the pandemic outbreak, truck transportation is still limited this week, drivers need to provide 24-hour nucleic acid, and some highway gates require government documents to pass.

Qingdao

Due to the impact of the pandemic in Shanghai, the biggest problem when the surrounding goods are transferred to Qingdao is transportation. The goods cannot be shipped out, and it is very troublesome to leave the province. Trucks need to be booked 3 days in advance, and the driver needs to provide a nucleic acid test report.

Tianjin

Seaport:

After the May labor holiday, the shipping market is stable so far, but there are very few spaces to US IPI points (such as MSP).

Airport:

The overall price changed little this week, and the European line continued to drop. Affected by the epidemic, the delivery/delivery of goods in the Beijing area involves control or prohibition, and needs to be confirmed at any time.

Thailand

Air freight surcharge will be updated again on 5/13 and will take effect on 5/16.

The Chinese blockade is still having an impact on shipments to and from Thailand. Some carriers will not accept goods to Shenzhen during this period. Due to the serious backlog of SZX import warehouse. Timetables to China must be checked and updated daily.

Vietnam

Due to the serious delay of the previous voyage, the subsequent ship delays continued. The demand for exports to the US market increased but the space was limited, and clients needed to book the space in advance. HCM-SEA customers can try new services: UWL has partnered with Swire Shipping to become the first NVOCC to launch a new express service on the Ho Chi Minh to Seattle route, with a transit time of 18 days/ bi-weekly.

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