Update on the covid situation and its affects

We are facing the Chinese New Year, which officially begins on February 1 but as well an exciting Winter Olympics in Beijing  with the grand opening on February 4. These events in combination with the Chinese zero tolerance policy around covid means that many parts of the supply chain may be influenced in the affected areas.

Daily, we follow the rapid spread of covid in Europe and we have also been reached by a few outbreaks in China, most recently in Ningbo and Tianjin.

The port of Ningbo is now slowly back to normal and full capacity, but the eruption has of course disturbed the outcome for sea & airfreight back in time. Surrounding ports such as Xiamen and Shanghai have also been affected as volumes have been diverted to these ports instead of Ningbo.

In Tianjin / Xingang, which is in the immediate area of Beijing and is the most important port for Northern China, the authorities have acted powerful. They are now testing 14 million inhabitants and they have introducing limited freedom of movement in the area until further notice.

This week we also receive reports of confirmed infection in southern China and in the Shenzhen area and the port of Yantian and airports nearby may be affected.

In the last two cases, a general limited mobility is introduced with immediate effect and also that a negative covid test, which is not older than 48 hours, must be presented to enter airports and ports.

We monitor developments closely and please feel free to contact us for any further details.