China container port expects delays after coronavirus outbreak, shipping costs set to rise further
- The container yard of Yantian Port has been partly shut since last week after an outbreak of Covid-19 among port staff and in the broader community
- Yantian is one of the busiest ports in the world, with a cargo throughput of 13.34 million twenty-foot equivalent unit in 2020
One of the world’s busiest ports could see shipments delayed as a coronavirus outbreak that earlier closed part of the facility spurs stricter virus-control measures.
All cargoes leaving Yantian Port in China will require reservations, according to a port employee, who declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
The port has strengthened its Covid-19 testing programme for imports and cargoes into China could also be delayed, the employee said when asked whether vessels arriving at the port could be interrupted.
Yantian Port in the export and industrial hub of Shenzhen in southern China had temporarily stopped accepting containers for export until Sunday, according to a notice posted Friday on WeChat.
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China’s southern Guangdong province in high gear to quash Covid-19 outbreak
The container yard of the port has been partly shut since last week after an outbreak of Covid-19 among port staff and in the broader community, state media reported.