By Benny Lim.     Photo：Paula Nardini

Taiwan Turmoil Prompts Detours and Delays for Global Shipping

China’s announcement of military drills around Taiwan as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits the island is already having ripple effects across global supply chains, prompting detours and causing delays of energy shipments. 

Shipping companies are reassessing their options after China’s response to the visit of the highest-ranking U.S. official to the island in 25 years. The actions threaten to disrupt one of the world’s busiest waterways. 

China ramps up military activity in the region, shippers may need to reroute vessels around the eastern side of the island, rather than through the busy waterway between mainland China and Taiwan. That will create delays of about three days, according to shipbrokers.

Shippers often face typhoons at this time of year that create similar disruptions. 

The military exercises are scheduled to end by next week, and shippers and analysts will be watching to see if it blows over quickly.

Dredging for Shenzhen port’s western section

Capital dredging will be carried out to widen the waterways in the western section of Shenzhen port in China. This will enable fully loaded 9,000 TEU ships and partially loaded 18,000 TEU ships to enter the western section of China’s fourth busiest container port.

The dredging works are estimated to take three years and would help Shenzhen to hit its target of handling 33 million TEU by 2025.

after the waterways are deepened, the transportation capacity of Shenzhen Port will be improved, contributing to the development of an international shipping hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

The below is the feedback from China and Southeast Asia branches in week 33,

Shenzhen

Shipping: Freight rates on the U.S. line are still falling, shipping companies frequently adjust prices, and shipping schedule delays are more serious

Yantian Terminal still implements ETB-7 days to pick up containers. Due to factors such as shipping schedule DELAY and the unstable epidemic situation, additional costs have become normalized

Air Freight:

Due to the epidemic, some flights in CA/CZ/CK have been cancelled, and the market freight has increased slightly

Hong Kong

Seaport: 

Due to the pandemic, transportation through Hong Kong has been blocked, and the policy has not been fully recovered.

Airport: 

The space of this week is more stable than last week.

Shanghai

Seaport: 

Affected by various factors, the 7-10 days delay of Shanghai port ships continued. Shanghai's current epidemic policies are constantly changing, and the impact on truck transportation is still great.

Ningbo

the price of the US line continues to drop quickly. The delay of scheduling is more serious due to the military exercise.

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

This cargo volume of this week in Xiamen still not yet increase, and the prices has been slightly lowered again compared to last week.

Dalian

Truck drivers still need a 48-hour nucleic acid report when entering and leaving the port area.

According to changes in epidemic prevention and control, in addition to the mandatory requirement to wear disposable medical surgical masks above, it is recommended to wear disposable medical gloves (latex, rubber)

According to the new customs regulations, in addition to paying the change fee, if the value of the goods is high, a certain penalty must be paid.

Qingdao

The price of the base port has been reduced, and the positions are abundant. The military exercise has caused the ship's DELAY to continue, or 3-5 days. Drivers still need to provide nucleic acid test certificates within 24 hours, health codes, etc. The congestion of the LCL warehouse is reduced, and it is not required to only accept the goods 7 days before the departure date

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

Thailand

Seaport: 

The schedule on this period delay around 5-7 days and some carrier omit the port. 

Vietnam

Viet Nam and China are negotiating to develop phytosanitary protocols for eight kinds of Vietnamese fruits exported to China, including bananas, mangoes, litchi, longans, watermelons, dragon fruit, jackfruits and rambutans.

To export fresh fruit to the Chinese market, manufacturers and exporters must comply with regulations on phytosanitary, food safety and traceability.

Shipments from growing areas or packaging facilities that have not registered to have codes from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are not licensed by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) to import to China.

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