Coronavirus controls pushing China’s southern container ports to limit, sending freight rates soaring
- Ports in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, including Yantian, Shekou and Nansha, plan to keep disinfection and quarantine measures in place until at least next week
- Danish shipping giant Maersk said on Tuesday that increased congestion and delays upwards of 15 days are expected at Yantian port
Capacity at major ports in China’s southern manufacturing hub is being pushed to the limit by tighter coronavirus controls, with the delays spreading over the world’s busiest port cluster set to further exacerbate global container shortages.
The number of days containers are allowed to enter the port ahead of the vessel’s estimated arrival time has been cut at most ports, with Yantian reducing the window to three days from four having initially stopped all container traffic for four days at the end of May.
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Officials at Nansha port insisted on Monday that operations were “running normally”, although truck drivers are required to have booked in advance and they must be able to present a negative coronavirus test conducted within 72 hours, all of which is expected to greatly affect capacity.