Shanghai airfreight operations stable for now as Covid cases creep up
14 / 07 / 2022
Credit: tratong/ Shutterstock
Covid is on the rise again in Shanghai but “there has been no impact on airfreight” so far and turnover at Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) has bounced back, according to Flexport.
In a freight market update on July 12, the freight forwarder said that trucking also remains unaffected, despite the rise in cases.
“Meanwhile, Pudong Airport has already reached pre-lockdown levels of daily tonnage turnover,” said Flexport.
Shanghai Pudong suffered with the impact of Shanghai’s two-month lockdown as flights were limited, factories and warehouses were shut down and trucks were restricted on roads.
Despite the report of stable operations in Shanghai, Flexport warned unusually hot weather may result in service delays in the city. The heat is “leading to payload reductions ranging from 3-10%,” meaning some cargo may be offloaded at the last minute which could see delays.
Flexport added: “For Frankfurt (FRA) bound volume, continue to expect delays of 2-4 days due to manpower shortages and flight cancellations.”
Overall in North China, Far East Westbound (FEWB) demand continues to be stronger than that of transpacific eastbound (TPEB) because of tight capacity in the market.
“The overall market is still trending downwards with airlines reducing rates for both lanes,” explained Flexport.
In South China, TPEB market demand is stable while FEWB demand is slightly stronger, said Flexport.
Other notable global activity includes “normalised” capacity into Shanghai from the Americas, and continued disruption at AMS, FRA and LHR due to staff shortages. However, there has been no “significant impact on transit times yet”.
In a LinkedIn post on July 13, Norman Global Logistics said that it is “not experiencing any issues moving sea or air cargo” in and out of Shanghai and expects “rolling mini lockdowns” rather than a full lockdown if further action is taken to curb Covid cases.
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