Critical China ports and airports closed by Typhoon Chanthu

Already struggling to deal with heavy congestion, ports in Shanghai and Ningbo, closed for the second time due to the impact of a typhoon this summer.

Typhoon Chanthu made landfall in Zhejiang province on Monday with strong gales and heavy rainfall, forcing the closure of Shanghai’s two airports and regional container ports.

Yangshan deepwater port, which accounts for about 45% of Shanghai’s throughput, suspended all box pickup and delivery operations, while port areas, Waigaoqiao and Wusong halted the transport of inbound and outbound containers and storage yards were also closed Monday.

Ningbo’s container terminals were closer to the landfall point, with operations phased out on Sunday.

The suspensions are similar to the measures taken when Typhoon In-fa hit the two Chinese gateway ports in July and the city is still expecting strong winds and thunderstorms in the coming days due to the lingering influence of the typhoon, so further suspensions may follow.

The closures, however brief, will add further disruption to an already stretched global supply chain, with unprecedented port congestion and delays created by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Meishan container hub, has only been open 18 days, after been shut down for more than two weeks following a dock worker testing positive for coronavirus and there were already 86 containerships at anchor off Shanghai and Ningbo before the closure.

UPDATE: Shanghai container port was due to gradually resume some container-related activities from 7 pm yesterday evening, while operations in Zhoushan and other parts of Ningbo in Zhejiang were still shut as of Tuesday afternoon. Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal resumed some operations from 5 pm.

We are monitoring the situation closely and would ask you to share your forecasts with us as soon as you can, book shipments ahead of time and contact us immediately, if you have urgent or critical consignments.