News
The China Ports and Harbours Association recently unveiled a report on the impact of the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak on production activities at ports and harbors during the week ended on February 16.
According to the report, 95% of the coastal ports had resumed normal operations. However, combined volume of containerized shipments handled at the eight major coastal ports in the week in question plunged 51% from a year earlier. At some ports, however, throughput plummeted 70% or even more.
Exports of oceangoing containers were affected more severely. It is analyzed that delays in resuming production at manufacturing facilities and resulting slow operations of terminal operators and freight forwarders left empty containers unprocessed at ports.
In contrast, impacts were smaller on imports of international containers. Unloading operations were, as such, made as normally, but the ports of Shanghai and Tianjin had long been suffering a shortage of reefer plugs.
Yangtze River ports were also adversely influenced. Total throughput at Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing declined 35% year on year. Container throughput at the ports fell some 30%.
