Supply chains have returned to normal operations after proactive preparations minimised typhoon disruptions, but forwarders warn of ongoing capacity pressures
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Air cargo supply chains out of Asia have been in recovery mode in recent days following the impact of last week’s Super Typhoon Ragasa but now face the pre-Golden week rush and backlogs caused by the temporary closure of Asia-Europe rail operations.
The Typhoon first made landfall on 22 September when it reached the Philippines before hitting Hong Kong, Macau and southern China the following day.
The air cargo industry had been preparing for the impact of the typhoon, with commentators expecting significant disruptions across regional supply chains in the coming days.
A week after the typhoon, supply chains have largely recovered, according to Hong Kong-based Dmitry Kulish, director at Air Cargo APAC.
“Hong Kong, Shenzhen Bao’an and Guangzhou cancelled quite a number of flights, but thanks to advance notice and mature market response, all shipments had been proactively moved out, so there were no serious disruptions as we can witness,” said Kulish.
"Once operations resumed, the network was quickly restored without a significant backlog. The main effect was seen on some e-commerce shipments, which were cancelled, and charter flights were temporarily used instead of regular schedules; some cargo moved from South to Eastern and central parts of China.
"Overall, air cargo supply chains have already returned to ’normal’ with pre-golden week cancellations.”
However, Dimerco warned that the impact of the typhoon, combined with Asia-Europe rail bottlenecks - due to Poland's decision to close its land border with Belarus until last Thursday - and the pre-Golden Week rush, was causing some air cargo backlogs in locations such as Hong Kong.
The Golden Week holiday starts on 1 October and runs to 8 October.
The forwarder said affected airports may be clearing backlogs over the next couple of weeks.
"Airfreight capacity from China to Europe remains tight due to the ongoing China–Europe Railway disruption and the upcoming Golden Week," Dimerco said. "With the rail services being restored on 25 September 25, constraints are still expected to last throughout October."
