China Update – Shanghai Lockdown Situation

The authorities in Shanghai have extended the city’s lockdown indefinitely, as they push to have all 25 million residents tested for COVID with all positive cases being moved and detained as they continue to aim for zero cases in the community. This shutdown, which started in phases on the 28th March is having a massive impact on the movement of cargo from Shanghai with all areas of the supply chain being affected and long delays can be expected for all shipments. These restrictions have forced factories, warehouses and offices to close as all residents are forced to stay at home under a strict lockdown regime. This has also resulted in the cancellation of most passenger flights in and out of Shanghai and all air cargo services are affected as well, as the airports are working with vastly reduced staff numbers and most trucking services are not able to operate. Although the ports are still working, these are also severely affected due to the lack of trucks being available to move containers as well as the reduced number of staff being able to attend and It’s expected that carriers will start to omit Shanghai or cancel some services altogether.

Where possible, some freight is being diverted to other nearby ports in China like Ningbo, Qingdao or Tianjin, but this becoming increasingly difficult as these other ports are now also getting congested, as well as these ports being reluctant to accept trucks from Shanghai. Unfortunately, it’s expected that this lockdown with have major flow on effects for some time, as there’s already a sharp drop in cargo movements, but then there will be a big push to try and ship cargo out once things get back to normal, similar to what happened in the early stages of this pandemic. If this is the situation again, then there’s the distinct possibility of space and equipment being in short supply, which will ultimately result in more rate increases again from the carriers. There’s still no time frame in place for this shutdown to end and we’ll continue to update everyone on a shipment by shipment basis as information is received and below is a link to a recent article with further information on this matter if needed.

Lines eye more missed calls and blank sailings as Shanghai lockdown goes on

Export Update – Sea Freight Ex Sydney  

Sydney Ports are continuing to experience serious congestion delays at this time, so please expect possible last minute changes in load planning and pick up times due to these delays for both LCL and FCL shipments. We’ll continue to keep you updated on these changes and we’ll work to ensure that we avoid any unnecessary additional charges being incurred, such as back to yard and/or storage fees etc.

Coastal FCL Services Resuming

Some carriers have recently announced a return to coastal cargo schedules with bookings now being accepted. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to proceed with any bookings or if you need any updated quotes for coastal shipments.

End of 2021-2022 BMSB Season

Some good news is that we’re coming to the end of the current stink bug season and any shipments that are departing from target risk countries from the 1st May will not require any BMSB treatment. The next season is expected to commence again from the 1st September, so we’ll have a few months reprieve until these shipments will need to be treated again.

Upcoming Public Holidays

With the upcoming Easter, Anzac Day and May Day (Brisbane) holidays additional pressure is being placed on transport operators to arrange container collections, deliveries and empty returns.
Terminals and Shipping lines count all public holidays and weekends in relation to container discharge, availability, storage & detention.  
Transport operators are working over these holiday periods to collect & stage containers when necessary. Container availability dates overlapping these periods will incur a staging surcharge. 

Please contact your usual CFL representative if you have any questions or if you need any further details regarding any of this information.