Shipping line Maersk has issued a statement, saying the Shanghai lockdown will severely hurt trucking services and increase transport costs. It claims China's intensifying efforts to fight the spread of Covid-19 is further stretching global supply chains.
The Chinese coastal city, home to some of the world's busiest sea and airports, began locking down half of the city on Monday and intends to do the same to the other half for four days starting Friday in a two-stage testing exercise. While its airports and deep-water port are being kept open, it has imposed stringent movement curbs, barring unapproved vehicles from streets and telling millions of people not to leave their homes.
"Trucking service in and out (of) Shanghai will be severely impacted by 30% due to a full lockdown on Shanghai's Pudong and Puxi areas in turn until 5th April," Maersk, the world's second-largest container shipping company, said in an advisory to clients on Monday. "Consequently, there will be longer delivery time and a possible rise in transport costs such as detour fee and highway fee."
Source: reuters.com
