The ongoing lockdown measures in Shanghai that continue to impact air freight and shipping in the major Chinese hub are expected to persist for the next two to three weeks piling pressure on the still constrained global supply chains. 

In a recent report, Flexport said as of April 12, air freight and supply chain disruptions continue as Shanghai remains under lockdown. 

"Lockdown measures are expected to continue for the next 2-3 weeks. Nearby cities are also seeing Covid cases rising and some areas have begun implementing similar lockdown measures," the freight forwarder said.

Flexport noted that due to the limited availability of trucking resources, trucking rates are at high levels and seeing delays of around 3-5 days in pick-up times.

Meanwhile, more than 80% of commercial freighter services have been canceled and airlines are looking into potentially shifting operations to nearby airports.

In South China, Flexport noted that ex-Hong Kong flight frequency has "still not recovered" due to the Covid situation and war conflict, however, demand is improving since lockdown measures were lifted in Shenzhen.

It said cross-border trucking capacity is still very limited (around 20% of the original capacity) and air freight rates have dropped slightly because of the upcoming Easter holiday.

Flexport added that ex-Shenzhen market demand is also improving but is highly affected by cross-border trucking capacity.

It said some shipments from Shanghai are also being re-routed to Shenzhen and air freight rates have increased compared to the week prior.

It further said that for Taiwan, market demand is "relatively stable," however, due to the PVG lockdowns and holidays in Thailand transit demand has dropped significantly.

For Europe, Flexport said "demand continues to be steady, and the upcoming change in season is seeing an increase in air freight requests for inventory to be stocked for Summer. "

"Rates are at a stable high due to capacity constraints, jet fuel prices starting to decrease however the benefits will not be passed on till the market stabilizes," it said, adding that freighter capacity is "heavily reduced" and booking to uplift window is approx 10-14 days.

"Deferred routings are still providing a viable routing option if already tight lead times can take it. We also see cheaper options on the market to secondary hubs where airlines have regular passenger flights," the freight forwarder added, noting that less congestion at EU terminals, though high volumes, therefore a potential increased transit time.