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SHANGHAI LOCKDOWN PUTS PRESSURE ON JIANGSU SUPPLY FLOWS
April 12, 2022
The ongoing lockdown in Shanghai — which began on March 28 — continues to impact logistics operations and the latest advisory from global 3PL Dimerco said Covid-19 cases while still high in the city, infections have already spread over to other cities in East China (Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province).
Jiangsu Province is home to many electronics and automotive manufacturing operations. Kunshan and part of Taicang are now locked down and many other cities in East China are also being greatly impacted by the pandemic.
"As a result of the Chinese Government's zero-Covid policy, traffic control for road transportation is getting ever stricter and it is difficult to secure trucks to bring freight to Shanghai or alternative airports," Dimerco said on April 11.
It added that for air import into Zhengzhou (CGO) — the hub for Cargolux and as a focus city for China Southern Airlines, Donghai Airlines, Lucky Air, Shenzhen Airlines, and West Air — freight with customs transfer to PVG will "not be accepted from April 11 onward."
"All import shipments with a final destination at PVG (Shanghai) need to be custom cleared at CGO airport. Moreover, for improved operational efficiency, import shipments need to be palletized only; no loose carton shipments will be accepted from the airline at origin," it added.
As of Monday, Dimerco noted that in terms of air freight, exports are suspended and shipments in and out of the warehouse are not allowed.
"On-hand cargo has been arranged to go to Shanghai Pudong and will be ready for departure ... however, this cargo will be arranged to export via other gateways such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Zhengzhou, Chongqing, or Xiamen."
The global 3PL noted that import operations are also impacted as import warehouse is locked down and trucks are not allowed to enter the warehouse — and only a "very limited" number of trucks with green passes are allowed to pick up cargo.
In terms of ocean freight, Dimerco said for export, Shanghai port operation is "still normal" but adds more demands to trailers qualification when entering the port area.
For Ningbo, it said the "impact on the port is milder."
"Operations are continuing as normal," Dimerco said, although adding that pickup will depend on the availability of road transport and truck services.
Easing from April 11
China's been implementing a zero COVID approach in its cities as it seeks to quell outbreaks of the virus. This includes prescribing quarantines and lockdowns while conducting mass testings in affected areas.
However, Shanghai started easing its lockdown in some areas on Monday even after reporting more than 25,000 new COVID-19 infections after more than two weeks of lockdown.
