The near standstill of the gigantic container port Yantian in southern China is causing chaos and disruptions in global trade. Worldwide container shipping is experiencing increasing delays, and transport rates between Shanghai and Rotterdam have already quintupled.
Nearly all goods and semi-finished products are affected, including those in the agricultural sector. Analysts report that the lack of capacity is leading freight forwarders in some cases to refuse to ship agricultural goods and intermediate products (agrochemicals) in order to accept better-paying freight.
The congestion in the South Chinese ports started because dockworkers sick with COVID-19 could process fewer ships per day. In addition, customs inspections in Chinese ports have been tightened due to fears of possible importation of infections.
The huge backlog in the port of Yantian has already spread to other Chinese container ports such as Shakou, Chihuahua, and Nansha, which are located in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The world’s largest container shipping company Maersk says shipments are delayed by at least 16 days.
When the Suez Canal was blocked earlier this year, shipping traffic was restored six days later, whereas the situation in Yantian has been ongoing for several weeks with no end in sight. Yantian port processes about 13.5 million containers per year, or approximately 36,400 per day.
A British carrier said last week that many European freight companies are also complaining about overloaded European ports and are attempting to reroute their cargo to other ports. Hamburg and Antwerp are especially hard hit.