Shipex

WORLDWIDE IMPACT OF PROBLEMS AT PORT OF YANTIAN

Dear Customer,

Due to the corona pandemic the Port of Yantian is struggling with serious congestion. This big container seaport is located nearby the city of Shenzhen and a gateway to South China.
As Chinese authorities noted an increase of covid-19 cases in the region, quarantine measures were tightened and the whole population in Shenzhen was tested.

At the end of May productivity was about 30% of normal level at the eastern area of Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT), and operations at the western area were even suspended for a few days.
It’s very challenging for shipping lines to deal with this situation: their vessels have to wait days to berth, or skip a call at Yantian and discharge this cargoes elsewhere (Nansha, Hong Kong).

“The total queue of vessels waiting to berth at the Port of Yantian increases”, wrote Maersk in an update last Friday. “Shipments not directly impacted by the Yantian situation might also be affected as we adjust our network to avoid port congestions and to limit the overall net loss of ocean network capacity”.

At the land side there’s heavy traffic around the port. As gate-in time was reduced, organizing trucking became more difficult. And due to the port omissions by carriers, the availability of empty containers at the southern Chinese ports continues to deteriorate.

This situation is again disturbing the schedule reliability of container shipping lines, resulting in more delays and congestion at other container ports worldwide, and putting further pressure on seafreight rates.
For example carriers ONE and CMA CGM have implemented a congestion surcharge of resp. 1.000 USD and 1.250 USD per reefer container for export from Europe to Yantian. On the import side, from Asia to North Europe, spot rates have reached a level of 20.000 USD for dry containers.

For more detailed information on your shipments, please contact us.