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China port backlog will take weeks to clear, Maersk says

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Beiyi Seow, Agence France-Presse 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/06/22/ship.jpg"/><figcaption>A cargo ship carrying containers is seen near the Yantian port in Shenzhen, following the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Guangdong province, China May 17, 2020.<em> Martin Pollard, Reuters/File Photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>A backlog at China&#x27;s largest container terminal caused by a COVID-19 outbreak among port workers will take several weeks to clear, the world&#x27;s biggest shipping firm said Monday.</p><p>Yantian port, in China&#x27;s southern trade hub Shenzhen, stopped accepting new export containers in May after a local infection cluster involving port workers -- stifling trade at a key point of the stressed global shipping network.</p><p>Port authorities, who stopped processing the new containers for six days, have said operations will be back to normal by the end of June.</p><p>Maersk -- which operates in 130 countries and employs about 80,000 people -- told AFP it would take a &quot;few weeks&quot; for the backlog to clear at the port, the world&#x27;s third-largest terminal.</p><p>It comes a week after the firm warned Yantian was &quot;the most prominent bottleneck right now&quot;.</p><p>&quot;The Yantian Port Authorities have announced that productivity will be gradually increased as more workers return to work and more berths reopen,&quot; Maersk said Monday.</p><p>Based on this, it added, the &quot;backlog will be gradually cleared in the next few weeks&quot;.</p><p>The shipping industry has faced huge challenges since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, including a combination of jammed networks and surging demand.</p><p>Yantian&#x27;s halt on processing containers exacerbated challenges which left shipping giants, manufacturers and logistics firms reeling.</p><p>&quot;It was already hard to find containers before, and the situation is even scarier now,&quot; said Alfred Wong, CEO of D&amp;S Products Manufactory, which produces goods in Shenzhen.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/30/21/traffic-in-suez-canal-resumes-after-stranded-ship-refloated">Traffic in Suez Canal resumes after stranded ship refloated</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/31/21/investigation-begins-into-how-ship-got-stuck-on-suez-canal">Investigation begins into how ship got stuck on Suez Canal</a></li></ul><p>It is now &quot;hard to predict&quot; the wait for container space, he said, adding that delays in shipments had made it difficult for manufacturers to keep pushing out products.</p><p>Wong added that it had become three to four times more expensive to ship to the United States.</p><p>Maersk warned Monday there had also been a &quot;ripple effect (that) has led to port congestion in nearby ports&quot;.</p><p>A staff member of logistics company JCtrans, surnamed Mao, told AFP some companies had tried to use ports in other regions, but that impacted on costs.</p><p>&quot;Factories and businesses have pushed back their delivery dates, many to the following month,&quot; said a staff member of another logistics firm, who wished to remain unidentified.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ve had no profits at all.&quot;</p><p>The Yantian port processed the equivalent of 13.3 million 20-foot units for foreign trade in 2020, Nomura analysts said, more than 10 percent of China&#x27;s foreign trade container throughput.</p><p>But Nomura expected export losses from the port disruption to be temporary, given China&#x27;s record of containing Covid-19 outbreaks, adding &quot;most of the near-term export losses will be recouped later&quot;.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1649795" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>A backlog at China's largest container terminal caused by a COVID-19 outbreak among port workers will take several weeks to clear, the world's biggest shipping firm said Monday.<br /> </p>

A backlog at China's largest container terminal caused by a COVID-19 outbreak among port workers will take several weeks to clear, the world's biggest shipping firm said Monday.

China port backlog will take weeks to clear, Maersk says

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China port backlog will take weeks to clear, Maersk says

Beiyi Seow,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jun 22, 2021 07:23 AM PHT

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