Tag: China

Following the coronavirus spread, thousands of containers reported to be stranded around Indian ports, since their cargo documentations which provide the details of the goods inside the container boxes are in the closed Chinese offices.

Continuing an alarming trend of global cargo disruptions amid the coronavirus outbreak, the bulk carrier Magnate stopped at India's Chennai port after two Chinese crew members onboard displayed fever, a key symptom of the coronavirus. Eventually, it was revealed that the two crew were not infected.  

Following the coronavirus spread, refrigerated containers are being diverted and relocated due to the shortage of reefer plugs at several Chinese ports. Meaning that container companies cannot secure the discharge of their reefers containers without the main power source.

Due to the spread of Covid-19, disruption is being reported in Chinese ports, because of shortage in available labour. As Standard Club informs, the extension of the lunar new year holiday is a significant factor but in some cases workers are absenting from work. 

In light of the coronavirus situation, Ocean Network Express recently decided to apply a congestion surcharge of $1.000 per container for all the reefer cargoes arriving into Shanghai and Xingang from 15 February and onwards, as for regulated trades the effective date will be 14th March 2020 until further notice.

Following the coronavirus outbreak, with several shipping companies skipping Chinese ports and many Chinese factories shutdown, trade market is passing a period of disruption. According to Bloomberg, physical supply chains are affected due to the above-mentioned situation.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese liquefied petroleum gas demand is likely to drop by 3% in the following two months, causing cut in the LPG shipments and affecting the freight rates.

Although several forecasts estimated that the oil demand will drop due to the coronavirus outbreak, oil prices ended up higher about 1%, for 3rd straight session, while investors expected that the oil producers would cut more output.

The Coronavirus outbreak hasn't only impacted people's health, but it has become a challenge for China’s crude oil, iron ore and coal imports, with many Chinese ports struggling to resume operations.  China’s imports of major commodities may be constrained in February, but slower demand because of the coronavirus may not be the main reason, rather it’s the struggle to get ports working at full capacity once again.

In cases where it is not possible to change the crew due to the restrictions posed by coronavirus outbreak, relevant administrations should consider appropriate to extend the seafarers period of service onboard, the Panama Maritime Authority advised in a new Marine Notice.