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Logistics newest information from Asia weekly.

17 Aug 2022

By Nick Lung.         Photo : Joshua Rawson-Harris 

Supply chains operating through Hong Kong are once again facing restrictions on cross-border truck operations due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Freight forwarder Dimerco said the city's daily cross-border truck traffic has been reduced from 3,500 to 1,500 due to the outbreak in Shenzhen and other places.

The restrictions began on July 25 and reduced truck capacity to around 10-20% of normal levels.

"In addition, stricter testing policies have been put in place. Truck drivers must show proof of a negative test result within 24 hours from July 24 to July 31, compared to the previous 48 hours," Dimerco said.

Due to truck restrictions, Dimerco expects a surge in demand for marine feeder services that transport cargo to Hong Kong.

Flexport also warned of delays for Shenzhen shipments via Hong Kong.

"Shenzhen-Hong Kong cross-border business has also been affected due to the surge in Covid cases and subsequent quota reduction of at least 50%," it said.

"Goods that need to be trucked to Hong Kong take longer to travel."

 

Changsha opens first international freight route to Africa

On July 26, under the supervision of Changsha Customs, the first cargo plane from Changsha to Addis Ababa took off from Changsha Huanghua International Airport. This is the first international cargo route to Africa opened in Hunan Province, and it is currently planned to fly twice a week. The cargo plane carried 95 tons of export goods, mainly clothing, mobile phone cases, shoes, backpacks, etc.

The opening of the Changsha-Addis Ababa cargo route further enriched the international route network of Changsha Huanghua Airport and built a convenient air bridge between Hunan and Africa.

In order to support the smooth maiden voyage of this route, Changsha Customs understands the airline's needs in advance, provides policy guidance and information, helps them quickly complete the relevant filing and declaration work, and formulates corresponding supervision plans to ensure the efficient customs clearance of export goods.

This year, Changsha Customs has fully supported the restoration and new international cargo routes of Changsha Airport. Up to now, 6 international cargo routes to Osaka, Manila and Bangkok have been restored and added. At the same time, actively promote the reform of "regional and port linkage", realize the free flow of customs-supervised goods across venues and regions, and "sharing resources and facilities" between venues, effectively improving the airport's air cargo support capabilities.

The below is the feedback from China and Southeast Asia branches in week 25,

 

Shenzhen

SEA: Rates on the U.S. line are still falling, and the congestion in the east coast is getting worse. It takes at least 2-3 weeks to berth. Yantian Terminal still implements ETB-7 days to pick up containers. Due to the unstable shipping schedule and the unstable epidemic situation and other factors, additional costs have become the norm.

Air: Prices are up due to the pandemic, the cancel flight of CA/CZ/CK have not recover.

 

Hong Kong

Seaport: Transportation through the port is still blocked due to the epidemic. At present, the two places have a quota for vehicles, which requires ranking, and they need to be unloaded in the warehouse and then connected by vehicles. The cost is high.

Air Freight: At present, the shipments in the market are weak, so the space is abundant and available and not nervous

 

Shanghai

Seaport: The freight rates of the US line have been steadily lowered, and the shipping schedules of Shanghai terminals have been delayed by 7-10 days.

Although the road transportation affected by the epidemic has basically recovered, the additional costs have become normalized, such as high-speed fees, nucleic acid fees, etc.

OOCL is the first choice for IPI at present, the container volume is relatively sufficient, but the problem is still delayed shipping and frequent port jumps

Some that do not have strict requirements on delivery time can be used in large quantities, such as BBM.

Air Freight: Yiwu City is unable to pick up the goods locally due to the epidemic.

U.S. freight rates this week are down compared to last week

 

Ningbo

US line prices continue to decline

The sailing schedule is not allowed, the late opening is serious

LCL warehouse entry has returned to normal

Truck drivers still need a 24-hour nucleic acid report, green code plus travel code, and some areas need to report or apply for a pass one day in advance

The new crown epidemic began on 8.2 in Yiwu. The port area has resumed the implementation of passes for trucks and trucks. Drivers can collect them on the mobile APP by themselves.

 

Xiamen

The new epidemic has spread in Xiamen again. The nucleic acid of all the city's staff has an impact on the lives of citizens, but it has not yet felt that it will affect the logistics market.

However, the Xiamen market is still relatively weak this week, and the freight rate continues to drop slightly.

 

Dalian

The shipping schedule is stable this week, but the price is still in a downward trend

In terms of transportation, the high-speed restrictions have improved, and it still takes 48 hours for truck drivers to enter and exit nucleic acid.

Disposable medical masks are required to enter the port area, and protective clothing and disposable medical gloves are required for import delivery.

 

Qingdao

1. The price of the basic port in the United States and West has been reduced, and the positions are abundant

2. The ship's DELAY continued for 3-5 days as a result of military exercises, and COSCO's second leg overwhelmed the port seriously.

3. Drivers still need to provide nucleic acid test certificates within 24 hours, health codes, etc.

4. The congestion of the LCL warehouse is reduced, and it is not required to only accept the goods 7 days before the departure date

5. The overall U.S. cargo volume is reduced, and the South African cargo position is not nervous.

 

Tianjin

Air China's US routes have not yet resumed. This week, the prices of the US routes are basically flat, and the prices of the European routes have dropped significantly.

Zhengzhou Airport North Cargo Area will be put into trial operation on August 16, and the transfer will be completed on September 7. After the operation, it will provide first-class basic guarantee for global aviation companies to engage in cargo business in Zhengzhou.

SEA: This week, both the volume and price of the seaborne market fell, especially the price in the United States and West, which fell by a relatively large margin. Exporters are taking a wait-and-see attitude and are not in a hurry to ship, which is also the main reason for the decline in volume.

 

Thailand

"Air freight – The air freight rate remains unchanged, the Surcharge update every 15 days.

Ocean freight – The freight rate of second half of the month on outbound routes remained the same.  The shortage of container and space has improvement.

 

Vietnam

1.  TCTT Port successfully handled COSCO SHIPPING ROSE with a record draft of 15.8m.
COSCO SHIPPING ROSE vessel of COSCO SHIPPING lines transporting more than 6,000 containers with 8 layers of containers stacked on deck and with a record draft up to 15.8m has successfully docked at Tan Cang - Cai Mep Thi Vai Port (TCTT) on Aug 07, 2022.
This vessel is operated on the Asia-US service (AWE6 service). AWE6 is a flagship service consists of 18 vessels with a capacity of 9,000-14,000TEU, calling at major ports in the Middle East, the Mediterranean region, the East and West coasts of the United States.
This is COSCO SHIPPING's weekly pendulum service with the most vessels and longest voyage journey. The AWE6 service is designed so that ships can double call at Cai Mep and Hai Phong ports per journey.
After crossing the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea, the service will keep going to the East coast of the United States, direct call Savannah, Norfolk, New York and Boston and then back to Piraeus.
After returning to Asia, the vessel double calls Cai Mep port again and return to China via Haiphong Port. The vessel will continue to cross the Pacific Ocean and direct call Long Beach and Oakland of the West Coast of USA as the design of eastbound service (named AAC service).

2. More than 100 flights affected by avoiding the area near Taiwan More than 100 flights had to detour to avoid military drills around Taiwan, of which Vietnam Airlines is expected to have 36 flights, Vietjet Air 82 flights.

The flight route from Vietnam to the US will go in the direction through the Philippines to avoid the Taiwan area, lasting about 35 minutes.
The route to Taiwan still maintains the old route towards mainland China, towards Taiwan without having to go through the dangerous area.
In addition to adjusting flight routes, some flights may be delayed due to the same adjustment by many airlines; flights have to take longer, causing airlines to increase fuel costs.

3. Ocean rate to US is falling recently and the demand of booking is also not much.

4. The shipping line suggest shipper to pick up empty 40HQ 10 days prior to ETD(ETD-9) due to the severe lack of 40HQ in HP now but shipper also need to consider free time DEM/DET to avoid the charge arises.

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