Ships looking to avoid Covid-induced delays in China are making a beeline for Shanghai, causing growing congestion at the world’s biggest container port.
Shipping firms are making the switch to avoid delays at nearby Ningbo, which suspended some trucking services near that port after an outbreak of Covid-19, according to freight forwarders and experts. Ships are also re-routing to Xiamen in the south, Bloomberg shipping data showed.
Those diversions are adding to the new wave of congestion facing China’s ports as an increasing number of cities deal with covid outbreaks. The strict testing of workers and truckers ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of this month is further stressing already strained supply chains as the pandemic heads into its third year.
In the country’s technology hub of Shenzhen in the south, testing of residents and truckers to contain an outbreak means a queue of ships has formed at the port. That’s caused the Shekou terminal to start restricting the acceptance …