Lockdown

Another China lockdown jeopardizes electronics, auto supply chains

Factory workers in China making printed circuit boards. COVID restrictions are forcing factories to close, slowing deliveries to laptop and automakers.

A five-day lockdown to contain the spread of COVID in the Chinese city of Kunshan, an important production center for electronics components, could severely squeeze the supply of laptops, mobile phones, TVs and automobiles, according to industry and media reports from the region.

Meanwhile, factory and logistics activity in Shanghai has been slashed further with the entire population of 25 million sheltering in place after authorities indefinitely extended a quarantine mandate that was supposed...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/another-china-lockdown-jeopardizes-electronics-auto-supply-chains

SIPG refutes Shanghai bottleneck rumours

Shanghai International Port Group has addressed rumours of serious congestion at the port as the city’s lockdown is extended.

SIPG specifically said that reports of 350 ships queueing to berth in Shanghai are untrue and the port’s productivity is on par with the same period last year.

SIPG said, “On average, each ship waits at most 24 hours for a berth and at any one time, not more than 10 ships are queuing to berth.”

SIPG acknowledged that the recent outbreak has hindered imports and exports and...

https://container-news.com/sipg-refutes-shanghai-bottleneck-rumours/

Cargo airlines cancel flights as Shanghai enforces COVID lockdown

A white and light-blue China Airlines 747 freighter.

The staggered lockdown of Shanghai to contain the biggest wave of COVID-19 since the early days of the pandemic is quickly crimping the movement of air cargo.

City officials shut down the eastern half of the city on Monday through April 1 and told people on the western side to quarantine at home or compounds from April 1 to April 5 while they conduct mass testing. With no public transport and people stuck at home, manpower shortages are hindering manufacturing and logistics activity. Many...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cargo-airlines-cancel-flights-as-shanghai-enforces-covid-lockdown

Air, ocean shipments delayed as Tianjin responds to COVID cases

Containers and cranes at a Chinese port.

Import and export operations in Tianjin are slowing after a small cluster of COVID cases was discovered over the weekend, according to third-party logistics provider C.H. Robinson. Meanwhile, in Shenzhen, authorities are blaming a contaminated import shipment infecting a cargo worker, who then spread the virus to three other people.

The news comes as China reinforces its zero-tolerance policy toward COVID in the weeks leading up to the Beijing Olympics that begin Feb. 4.

Authorities in the port...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/air-ocean-shipments-delayed-as-tianjin-responds-to-covid-cases

Ningbo port congestion risk grows amid COVID crackdown

Trucks and containers at a Chinese port.

Loading and discharge of container vessels is proceeding normally at the Port of Ningbo, but backlogs there are in the forecast because lockdown restrictions and mass testing requirements have impacted manufacturing and trucking in the Chinese city. 

The developments underscore how supply chains remain hostage to COVID outbreaks in 2022 and are an uncomfortable reminder of how several positive cases last August led a major marine terminal at the Ningbo port to shut down for nearly two weeks...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ningbo-port-congestion-risk-grows-amid-covid-crackdown

COVID-19 measures in Vietnam pummel an already bruised supply chain

Workers in a rubber factory.

Add another log to the fire that is choking global supply chains. Strict lockdown measures to suppress Vietnam’s worst outbreak of COVID infections since the pandemic began are severely curtailing factory production, especially for electronics, footwear, apparel and textiles, and ocean terminals lack sufficient equipment to export goods.

And the situation is likely to get worse, just as importers and exporters enter the traditional peak shipping season for the Halloween and Christmas holidays,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/covid-19-measures-in-vietnam-pummel-an-already-bruised-supply-chain

UK Reopening On May 17 Doubtful Due To New Covid Variant?

  • The dramatic rise in UK cases of a variant first discovered in India could undermine the country’s roadmap for reopening, scientists are cautioning.
  • The variant, called B.1.617.2, is one of three closely related variants that were initially detected in India.
  • Public Health England designated it a “variant of concern” on Friday, acknowledging it appears to be at least as transmissible as the dominant so-called Kent variant in the UK.
  • It is unclear if and to what extent B.1.617.2 can reduce...

https://mfame.guru/uk-reopening-on-may-17-doubtful-due-to-new-covid-variant/

Container Ship Charter Rates Rises More Than 10-year Highs

Container vessel time charter rates have risen to 10-year highs amid an ongoing bull run in container freight markets, says an article published in SPGlobal.

Charter Rates Assessments

Time charter rates for a ship with a capacity of 8,500 twenty-foot equivalent units registered at $54,000/d is the highest assessment in more than 10 years.

This represents a 151% increase over the year-ago assessment, when the chartering cost for an 8,500 TEU ship was $21,500/d.

Second half of 2020 surged demand for...

https://mfame.guru/container-vessel-charter-rates-rises-more-than-10-year-highs/

UK Statistics Chief Warns of Next Surge in COVID19 Infections

  • The UK’s national statistician said he has no doubt that there will be a further wave of Covid-19 infections in the autumn.
  • Experts have warned Britain is still not out of the woods amid concerns over new variants and the risks of the public breaching restriction rules.

Britain’s chief national statistician on Sunday said he has “no doubt” that there will be a further wave of COVID-19 infections in the autumn, the ITV reported.

Regional variation

Professor Ian Diamond, head of the British Office...

https://mfame.guru/uk-statistics-chief-warns-of-next-surge-in-covid19-infections/

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