Carriers reduce or cancel flights and sailings to/from China to mitigate coronavirus risk
Transport into and out of China subject to change as circumstances dictate.
2020/02/04
Market conditions in China remain fluid given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and related government interventions.
Air
Many carriers have announced in the last 24 hours that they will either reduce or cancel flights to and from China. These cancellations primarily affect passenger airplanes and therefore belly cargo capacities, but we have also received notifications that dedicated freighter companies such as Airbridge Cargo and Cargolux are currently re-evaluating their flight schedules for the coming weeks.
We anticipate little cargo being shipped out of China as factories remain closed. The reduced capacities announced for this and next week should not represent a major concern as circumstances will likely change as China resumes work.
DSV China/Hong Kong will work closely with all core carriers and vendors to ensure proper capacity planning in line with expected shipping requirements. We anticipate scarce capacities and higher rate levels as services return.
Ocean
In terms of ocean transport, we are aware of blank sailings announced by Maersk, CMA and COSCO, and expect further announcements in the near future.
We have received unconfirmed information that some ports may only allow vessel arrival at least 14 days after departure from final port in China, and are checking with various ports to validate this information.
We currently do not see a concern on the available capacities as many companies in China will not start shipping before February 10th. At that stage, however, we do see a rush to move freight and capacity shortages as a possibility.
Please speak to your DSV Air & Sea Account Manager or controller should you have any queries or require any further information.
As previously reported, the Chinese authorities have introduced various security measures at national level, in provinces as well as cities in an attempt to shut down the outbreak of the health-threatening coronavirus.
Public institutions have been told to stay closed and events with larger assemblies have been banned from taking place.
National extension of the Chinese New Year
The ongoing celebration of the Chinese New Year, with holidays up to 30 January, was officially extended until 2 February.
The official extension of the Chinese New Year meant that the infrastructure was hit during the period, making it difficult to implement domestic transport as well as import and export to the country.
Suzhou and Shanghai
In the million cities of Suzhou and Shanghai, offices will remain closed for even longer.
The latest announcement from Suzhou is that businesses may not open until Saturday, February 8th. In Shanghai, authorities have announced that companies may not resume operations until Monday, February 10th.
Quarantine Wuhan
The city of Wuhan has been quarantined along with 13 other neighboring cities in Hubei Province. The quarantine means that transport to and from these areas is not possible.
In addition, we have received several reports from DSV in China that truck drivers have been prevented from carrying out a given transport due to the danger of being the carrier of the virus.
Import or export
If you are importing or exporting to China, we recommend that you contact your suppliers / customers in China to hear more about local or unofficial measures that may affect your supply chain to and/or from the country.
DSV is closely following developments
In DSV, we naturally follow developments closely and are in contact with our colleagues in China. DSV in China has set up a working group that focuses on the development of the virus outbreak and is tasked with collecting information from authorities at national and local level.
The official extension of the Chinese New Year means that our DSV offices in China are first expected to open up depending on the local situation in the various provinces.
Due to the situation and because the development in the fight against the virus outbreak is intensifying continuously, the above must be seen as a momentary description.
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