260,000 TEU of Containers To Be Released From Shanghai Port

With the gradual resumption of work and production in Shanghai, congestion at the city’s enormous port — the world’s largest — has eased recently as supply chains begin to return to normal operation.

The daily container throughput at the Port of Shanghai has already reached 119,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or 90% of regular operation levels. Meanwhile, the daily cargo throughput at Shanghai Pudong International Airport has now exceeded 7,000 metric tons, having recovered to 70% of pre-lockdown levels. The number of freight vehicles entering and departing Shanghai via the provincial border has also reached 78,000 per day, two-thirds of the usual number.

Despite the recent ease in congestion, a huge backlog of containers remains. According to the latest analysis by maritime research and consulting services company Drewry, the Port of Shanghai will release 260,000 TEU of cargo this summer, a number far in excess of the peak season last year.

Analysts at Drewry said that in the early days of the lockdown in Shanghai, there was little impact on vessel calls. From mid-April onward, however, the decrease in vessel calls accelerated sharply, and many vessels had to be diverted to other ports. Drewry estimates that up to 260,000 TEU were unable to be shipped from Shanghai in April on account of the lockdown, a backlog equivalent to 26 ships carrying a full load of 10,000 TEU.

With the gradual easing of restrictions in Shanghai, the latest Shanghai Container Freight Index released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange on May 20 rebounded, edging up 14.86% and ending a 17-week decline.

Image: Unsplash

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.