Shanghai Lockdowns Slow Logistics

The city of Shanghai is going into a two stage lockdown starting today, which will undoubtedly impact logistics for both air and ocean freight.

Ongoing Covid cases, driven by the Omicron variant have led to the most drastic lockdown yet, which sees the Eastern side of the city now closed down until Friday, with the Western side following between 1st and 5th April.

While we understand that the airport and port are expected to remain open, there is expected to be heavy disruption to both ocean and air freight for the lockdown period and perhaps beyond.

The biggest issue will be the availability of transport for both LCL and FCL, which will be extremely limited due to stringent rulings for the movement of trucks. We understand that some port-bound trucks from outer regions have already been ordered to turn around.

The lockdowns will mean shops and factories will be closed, public transport is shut down and office workers will be working from home.

In other news, the Shenzhen lockdown was relaxed a few days back and while backlogs and congestion continue, operations are starting to return to normal.

Atlantic Pacific continue to monitor the situation closely. Should you require further information, then please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team.