China officials have made the decision to partially close a terminal at the Port of Ningbo, after a single Covid-19 case was confirmed last Wednesday.  

Supply chain concerns increase after the third-busiest port has closed one of its terminals. The Meidong Terminal, which processes around 25% of the port’s cargo, has been suspended after the Delta variant infected one of their workers.  

Meidong immediately stopped all operations and shut down the port area until further notice, which is likely to reduce overall Ningbo export capacity by 20-25%. Testing and quarantines are currently underway for the anyone the infected individual was in close contact with. Xinua reported that authorities have tested over 300 people so far, with zero positive results.  

Reuters reported that a backlog of 40 container ships were anchored off the coast of Ningbo on Thursday, with some ships rerouting to Shanghai. And whilst the closure has currently only affected one wharf and approximately 20% of volume out of Ningbo, the news comes at a time where some of the busiest ports in China are facing the worst congestion in at least three years.

The shutdown will continue to strain global shipping lines, many of which are still recovering from the partial closure of China’s Yantian port in June. To add to the backlog across Ningbo and Shanghai, China’s east coast are still dealing with the effects of typhoons and adverse weather conditions from July. These disruptions have developed at a time where demand from the Western regions has increased, as preparations for the Christmas holiday period begin.  

We continue to monitor the situation and will keep all clients with CN bookings updated accordingly. We urge clients to utilise our freight management tool, Pathway, to easily keep track of shipments in real-time, where users can set up alerts to keep up to date with all goods in transit. As always, if you have any queries or concerns, please get in touch with an Unsworth representative below.