By Tina Wu   Photo：iqbalnuril，Link：pixabay

Since late April, the number of Covid-19 cases started to steeply climb in Southeast Asian countries due to the highly contagious Delta variant. As an active supply chain management partner in the region, we have been closely in contact with our team members in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Besides reports on the current pandemic situations in these countries, they also share some useful information about international trade (import & export), port operations and economic activities.

Indonesia

"Economy is still a high priority with record-breaking export volume in June 2021."

Indonesia is now “Asia’s new epicenter of the pandemic” according to CNN. With daily new cases reaching a record high in mid-July, this second wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia has forced the government to impose the strictest pandemic restrictions since last year. An emergency lockdown started on July 3 and is extended to last until August 3. Daily new cases slight dropped from over 56,000 on July 15 to around 28,000 on July 26.

Some business activities closed down and some slowed down. Nonetheless, the government takes national economy as a high priority, and exporting businesses still grew to a record-high last month.

Trade surplus in June 2021 recorded USD 1.32 billion, according to Indonesian Ministry of Trade. Export value also reached USD 18.55 billion, a record-breaking level in a decade since 2011. Non-oil and gas export gave strong momentum to support the surplus. The United States is the country’s second biggest partner in this sector and its export surplus last month ranked the highest.

Though trading activities is revealing an upward trend, Indonesian logistics industry is facing tight supply of shipping space and equipment for USA and Europe routes, just like the other parts of the world.

“B2B logistics, including trucking/ trailer, customs and port activities, quite slumped and was severely damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Meanwhile, domestic e-commerce, warehousing services for staples and retail goods are less affected,” said our local staff in Indonesia.

This year B2B logistics may grow positively throughout the year, but the current Covid-19 situation is challenging the government to effectively curb the virus while ensuring the prospects of the national economy.

Malaysia

"Airport and seaport workforce down to 40%~60% capacity to ensure ongoing operations during national full lockdown."

Since the start of June when the Malaysian government announced national FMCO (full lockdown), logistics, including airports and seaports were selectively approved to maintain essential operations. Nonetheless, workforce shrank to only 40%~60% to curb the spread of coronavirus.

“Current congestion in seaports is manageable.” according to a Malaysian government statement. Shipping to/ from Malaysia, especially at Port Klang, Penang, Pasir Gudang/ Tanjung Pelepas, is still available, but space to Europe and USA is still in tight supply because carriers are skipping Malaysia to compensate for the shipping delays caused by port congestion.

The availability of feeder service is still very limited, so early case-by-case arrangements for export shipping are required, suggested by our local staff in the country.