Shanghai lockdown goes on

While some residents were allowed to step out of their homes for the first time in several days, Shanghai enters the second week of an indefinite lockdown, leading to ocean carriers increasingly omitting calls at the world's largest sea port and preparing to announce more blank sailings.

The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, which had been serving as an alternative to Shanghai’s stalled port, is now facing congestion of its own. And now Guangzhou has become the latest port city to undergo mass Covid-testing, a frequent precursor to tough restrictions under China’s zero-Covid policy. City-wide testing began on Saturday evening, along with travel restrictions on who can leave and enter the city.

The maritime and air freight supply chain continues to be characterised by unprecedented disruptions, unpredictability and extreme increases in freight rates. The full impact of China’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ strategy will not be felt by consumers in Europe and elsewhere for a month or two.