In addition to the capacity issues currently impacting ocean freight imports from Asia, some Chinese ports are now witnessing a severe shortage of container equipment, especially at Northern Chinese Ports.
The northern ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Tianjin are amongst the worst affected, along with Yantian in Southern China, where carriers are reported to be running out of equipment, in particular 40’ HC containers.
Coupled with congestion at some ports, the equipment shortage is leading to major disruption, with vessel waiting times at the port of Shanghai reported to be up to 14 days. In some cases, carriers are waiting for import vessels to arrive in order to turnaround empty containers immediately for export.
Market conditions have become similar to those witnessed during the post-pandemic period, where obtaining booking space is a major challenge and rates are spiralling upwards. Therefore, some service disruption seems to be inevitable during the coming weeks.
As ever, your Westbound team are working very hard to secure space and equipment during these challenging times. To help us better manage the situation, we request that customers book as early as possible to help avoid delays.
If you have any questions regarding the above, then Westbound are here to help. So, please do not hesitate to contact us.
