China shipping: container disruptions inevitable at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, but impact may be ‘marginal’
- Congestion and wait times have continued to build, albeit slowly, since terminal’s closure following worker’s positive coronavirus test last week
- But valuable lessons may have been learned from the massive disruptions at China’s Yantian Port earlier this year, industry insider says
As rumours swirl about a possible reopening time frame for a key terminal at the world’s largest port by cargo tonnage, analysts and industry insiders say any problems in the global supply chain could be milder than those seen earlier this year at China’s Yantian Port in Shenzhen.
“If the port returns to full capacity before the end of August, we should be OK with only marginal delays and impacts,” said Akhil Nair, vice-president of global carrier management and ocean strategy at Seko Logistics.
Ningbo-Zhoushan Port said on Wednesday that it was preparing to restart operations at the Meishan terminal, without giving additional information. And on Thursday, an employee at the terminal who answered the Post’s call said there was no firm date for resuming service.
I guess [Ningbo-Zhoushan Port authorities] learned valuable lessons from Yantian on how to manage this
Nearly all inbound and outbound container operations at Meishan have been redirected to other terminals since its closure, according to a report by shipping and logistics service platform Project44.
