As China pushes down on its Covid Zero policy, the number of container ships sitting off the coast of Qingdao, one of the country’s largest ports, continues to climb, adding extra delays to an already strained global supply chain.
According to maritime statistics collated by Bloomberg, 72 vessels were detected off the coast of Shandong’s Qingdao port on Monday, about double the number seen at the end of February. Freight prices are projected to rise as a result of the increasing delays there and elsewhere in China.
While there is normally a surge of vessels attempting to enter China after the Lunar Fresh Year holidays, lockdowns aimed at preventing new coronavirus outbreaks have exacerbated levels this year. “Virus outbreaks are popping up all across China, and lockdown procedures don’t appear to be working as well as they used to, since the new versions are more transmissible,” said Salmon Aidan Lee, head of polyesters at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “As a result, we now have a scenario in Qingdao that has become worse in the last few days,” he said, adding that he expects freight prices to climb as a result of the increased delays.
