"The factory in Fengxian, Shanghai, has been shut down since March 28th. Originally, there were 8 containers to be shipped in April, but now they can't go out. The factory in Suzhou may also face shutdown until April 18th."
"The freight forwarding business orders in hand have stopped by 60%, and some of the existing orders have to be diverted to other hub ports in the Yangtze River Delta."
"Every day in the Yangtze River Delta, you can find containers that go to the port to pack goods, and the container trucks that meet the requirements are all looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Now either double the price and find a container truck to go to the factory to pull the goods to the port, or just stop taking the goods and store them in the warehouse."
Local factories are shut down, local factories are stockpiling goods, and it is difficult to find a single truck of freight.
Under the local epidemic control, a number of foreign trade enterprise leaders and freight forwarders in the Yangtze River Delta region recently told reporters from The Paper about the import and export dilemma they encountered.
The Yangtze River Delta gathers in many important ports in my country.
Among them, Shanghai coastal ports completed 47 million TEUs of containers last year, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%; Jiangsu coastal ports including Lianyungang and Yancheng completed a total of 5.41 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%; Zhejiang coastal ports include Jiaxing, Ningbo Zhoushan, Taizhou, Wenzhou A total of 35 million TEUs were completed, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%.
In order to reduce the impact of the epidemic situation at major ports on foreign trade, on April 14, the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Keeping Freight Logistics Safe and Unblocked" mentioned in the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Keeping Freight Logistics" The epidemic area will make full use of the advantages of railways and waterways to promote the "transit to water" and "transit to iron" for container collection and distribution ports to ensure smooth port collection and distribution systems and normal port production.
In addition, the special traffic classes in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui should strengthen regional coordination, and during the transition period, it is necessary to ensure the smooth passage of trucks holding the "SIPG Epidemic Prevention Pass".
Freight drivers: It is difficult to provide stable capacity in the near future
If the goods from various places want to ship from the coastal ports, they can enter the warehouses in the area by road or combined transportation with waterways and railways, and then send them to the port after packing.
The cargo in the surrounding areas of the port is mostly in the form of truck trailers, that is, the truck takes empty boxes from the port to the destination factory, and then transports the full cargo to the port.
Considering the current road freight is not smooth, in order to alleviate the problem of empty container transportation at the port, SIPG said that its empty container center has helped the empty container by forwarding the empty containers to the client, taking advantage of the off-peak hours and a large number of empty containers backflow. The shipping company will evacuate the empty container to the inland point.
In this regard, a number of freight forwarders in the Yangtze River Delta region told The Paper that the above measures can indeed alleviate the problem of empty container transportation, but for small and medium-sized enterprises, it is almost difficult to grab "return empty containers".
"Suzhou does not have as many and professional operators as Shanghai to handle such empty containers and cargo transportation. In addition, if the empty containers are packaged by large factories, small and medium-sized enterprises will not be able to obtain them at all. Such guarantees will only allow a few smaller ones. The short barge entered the short barge port, usually the amount of cargo that can be loaded, the container volume is not enough to support the current demand in the surrounding areas." Wang Xiaojun (pseudonym), a freight forwarder in the Yangtze River Delta region, told reporters.
Therefore, for factories in cities around the port, finding a truck that can pick up boxes from the port to the factory to load the goods and then transport them to the port is still one of the main transportation methods.
In addition, despite the severe epidemic situation in some ports, it is not a priority for freight forwarders to switch the cargo to the port.
Many freight forwarders mentioned that if the original Shanghai port is changed to other ports to transport goods, it involves the connection between the freight forwarder and foreign customers and shipping companies, and it is negotiated whether to release a certain space for ships in nearby ports such as Ningbo Port, Lianyungang Port or Fuzhou Port. , usually the negotiation between the three parties against the jet lag takes a long time.
In addition, the shipping market is still at a high level, and the price of space in various ports is not much different, so it may not be possible to release the desired number of space.
At present, most of the ports in the Yangtze River Delta are under closed-loop management.
As the port with the largest throughput in China and even in the world, Shanghai Port has issued a notice to ensure freight logistics and transportation, saying that the container transportation vehicles involved in the inbound transportation of Shanghai Port will be compared through the big data center system since 6:00 on March 29. SIPG will issue an electronic "SIPG Epidemic Prevention Pass" after verifying the negative certificate of electronic nucleic acid test within 48 hours for the driver of the set card.
During the road inspection, the traffic police department of the public security organ will release the container transport vehicles and personnel showing the green code by comparing the driver information of the card and the electronic "SIPG Epidemic Prevention Pass" held by them.
In addition, on April 14, the traffic control and transportation guarantee special class of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism Comprehensive Group of the State Council issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Keeping Freight Logistics Safe". The notice pointed out that Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Anhui Province, The provincial transportation special class should strengthen regional coordination, and during the transition period, it is necessary to ensure the smooth passage of trucks holding the "SIPG Epidemic Prevention Pass".
There is a "pass" for freight trucks to ensure the entry and exit of Shanghai Port, but the cross-city entry and exit of trucks and trailers still faces difficulties.
On April 14, Li Ming (pseudonym), the head of foreign trade with many factories in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, told The Paper that compared with other foreign-brand drivers in Shanghai, the 24-hour/48-hour driving The negative nucleic acid certificate is relatively slow to review on the Su cargo code, and it is often difficult for drivers to successfully complete the transportation of 'to Su' and 'from Su' within the specified time.
Recently, among the 12 Shanghai-brand truck fleets owned by Liming Company, only two or three can successfully carry the empty containers from Shanghai Port to the Suzhou factory to pick up the goods, and then return to Shanghai Port.
On April 15, a number of Shanghai-licensed truck drivers in Shanghai told Li Ming that it seemed that Suzhou had suspended the release of Shanghai-licensed trucks that day.
Previously, Li Ming also considered looking for foreign-brand vehicles that were out of town to pick up the containers at Shanghai Port, go to Suzhou for loading, and then return to Shanghai Port to unload the containers. "It is indeed an operable method, but there are also problems."
Li Ming said that the registration procedures and documents for foreign cards entering and leaving Shanghai, entering and leaving Hong Kong are cumbersome, and there are very few drivers willing to take orders.
In addition, such trucks usually leave Shanghai with an empty truck to pick up freight business in other areas. Therefore, the freight for one trip is sky-high. For small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, they would rather give up coming out of the closet during this extraordinary period.
At present, the main way of exporting goods of Liming Factory is to find the foreign card collection card in Shanghai, pick up the box, go to Suzhou to trailer and then return to Shanghai port.
"I was able to get in touch with a foreign-brand pickup truck in Shanghai in a week, and the capacity was directly reduced to 1/15 of the original one." Li Ming said that there are fewer and fewer foreign-brand pickup trucks in Shanghai. There are still more than 30 vehicles in the Japanese market, and there were only about 10 vehicles on April 14.
"They don't have much spare capacity, and there may be less in the next few days. Once they go out, there are layers of obstacles for them to come back."
Road freight accounts for more than 70% of China's total social freight volume.
However, poor road freight and repeated epidemics have put pressure on the industry chain.
Many freight drivers have recently reported that it is difficult to ensure stable transportation capacity for loading and unloading cargo for cargo owners around the world.
In addition to guaranteeing a 24-hour/48-hour nucleic acid negative certificate, green codes without stars, local passes, local advance reporting, etc. Any problems or delays in approval will cause them to stay on the expressway for hours, or even a few days. sky.
"Once you pass through Shanghai's itinerary code with a star, basically no high-speed ports across the country will let you go. So even if the freight is as high as 50,000, we generally won't accept the 'Shanghai bill'." A freight driver said.
"At present, many places do not accept vehicles from Shanghai, and the high-speed is closed to persuade them to return. If the high-speed itinerary code does not carry a star, it will be parked in the government-designated parking lot for observation. The situation with a star requires '7+7' isolation. The number of days varies from place to place." The business leader of a container trailer company told The Paper.
Road freight rates have doubled, while sea freight rates have shown a slight downward trend
Insufficient supply of transportation capacity, freight costs will naturally rise.
"Every time a cabinet is taken out, after the basic operating costs are eliminated, the remaining money is almost given to the truck drivers. Now there are too few drivers who can run, and we cannot and dare not offend them. The shipment is in a hurry. Almost all the conditions for a freight driver will be met." A factory manager told The Paper.
Li Ming told reporters that last week, the cost of trailers from Suzhou factory to Shanghai port had risen to 2,300 yuan. On April 14, the driver's quotation was 5,400 yuan, which has more than doubled.
On April 15, with the decrease in the number of foreign-licensed drivers in Shanghai, the latest quotation increased by 1,000 yuan, and now there are new highs every day.
As road freight is blocked and the volume of inbound cargo fluctuates, shipping companies have begun to choose low-cost receipts in order to reduce the loss of empty ships, and sea freight has also shown a downward trend recently.
According to a freight forwarder, the price of the space released by the shipowner he has docked with shows that the freight rate of the popular China-US route has dropped by more than 10% compared with that before this wave of the epidemic, which is around 12,000 yuan, and the China-Europe route has dropped by nearly 15% to 20%.
"During this period, the shipping space released by the shipping company is not as oversold as last year's tense period. Now there will be empty spaces, withdrawals, etc., and the space will not be able to go away. Finally, the cargo of this ship may be merged with the next one. Let's go." Shanghai freight forwarder Liu Yang (pseudonym) introduced to The Paper that at the beginning of April this year, the ships in Shanghai Port were just in time for the closure of the city, and the planned goods could not arrive. Some businesses have been adjusted, and some temporarily do not rely on Shanghai, and directly rely on Ningbo or Shenzhen Yantian further south.
On April 15, the surging news reporter learned from COSCO SHIPPING that at present, COSCO SHIPPING has 95 container shipping routes calling at Shanghai Port, with an average of about 36 ships per week, and more than 5 self-operated ships calling at Shanghai Port every day.
Freight forwarding: the rise of barge business, "land to water" is popular
Under the influence of the epidemic, road transportation was hindered, and waterways were relatively less affected.
Goods to be shipped in the Yangtze River Delta region have been considering transferring transportation routes and shipping positions.
"Barge (used to transfer cargo or passengers, ships without self-propelled ability) business is more in the Pearl River Delta region of South China, and the others are large ships from Qingdao or Ningbo to Shanghai, and now the barge business in Ningbo and the surrounding areas of Shanghai is also emerging. ." A staff member of a freight forwarding company with barge business in Shenzhen told The Paper.
"Recently, many orders from Shanghai Port have been diverted to Ningbo Port, Lianyungang Port, and Taicang Port for shipment, and some are transported to Shanghai Port by barge. Only some Shanghai local truck suitcases go to Yixing, Changshu and other places for loading and then return. Shanghai Port." Liu Yang told reporters that during the lockdown in Shanghai, his company's freight forwarding business dropped to 60% of the pre-epidemic level.
Liu Yang also said that the goods that are diverted to Taicang Port directly pass through barges, directly connect to the port area without the control of road transportation, and transport the goods to Shanghai Port by water. "At present, the government, port and shipping companies are more respectful of this kind of practice."
On April 11, Shanghai Port and Taicang Port issued the "Notice of Shanghai and Pacific Ports on Reasonably Improving the Ability of Waterway to Ensure Supply and Smoothness" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), a green channel for goods from surrounding enterprises to be transshipped into Shanghai Port via Taicang Port. .
The "Notice" expands the water green channel. Shanghai SIPG Changjiang Multimodal Transport Co., Ltd., Shanghai Port Taicang Service Center, and Taicang Port Taishen Express Service Platform will increase the capacity or external procurement in a timely manner on the basis of ensuring the capacity of 27 bus crossings. Shipping space, after the container arrives at Taicang Port, the transshipment task must be completed within 48 hours.
The "Notice" also mentioned the reduction or exemption of related fees.
All container terminals in Taicang Port fully support Suzhou enterprises to ensure smooth supply. From April 12th to the end of May, the terminal storage fee will be fully reduced or exempted for the "land-to-water" heavy containers imported and exported through "Taicang Express".
Yang Zhonghua, a Guangxi freight forwarder who covers barge work, told The Paper that most of the goods in inland areas are transported by land and sea according to the road section, and then go to the hub port in the southeast to wait for boarding.
In normal times, barge transportation is nearly one-third cheaper than pure road transportation under the same route, but it will take longer, and customers generally prefer road transportation in pursuit of timeliness.
Yang Zhonghua further introduced that during the epidemic, due to the arrival of nucleic acid ashore, the overall time of barge transportation will be affected. However, compared with the recent road freight with blocking points and barriers to entry and exit, the transportation time by barge is more cost-effective.
Among them, the situation of transportation to and hub ports by barge in the southeastern region is more obvious.
The surging news reporter learned from COSCO SHIPPING that COSCO SHIPPING has opened the "land-to-water" service in ports along the Yangtze River, breaking the inland transport logistics block for cargo owners' foreign trade exports.
At present, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Zhangjiagang, Xuzhou and other places have achieved daily shifts to Shanghai.
In addition, SIPG has also launched a comprehensive logistics "land to water" service to provide customers along the Yangtze River and northern Zhejiang with solutions for water transportation in and out of Shanghai Port.
"Although 'Hu-Taitong' has the benefit of fully reducing the terminal storage fee for heavy containers, the cost of transporting goods from Taicang Port to Shanghai Port by barge is at least 30% higher than that of road transportation in normal times." Freight forwarder Wang Xiaojun told The Paper reporter.
According to a number of freight forwarders in the Yangtze River Delta region, whether it is barge or rail transport, it can generally relieve pressure for larger foreign trade companies.
In the small manufacturers in the surrounding areas of the port, the cargo volume can basically be filled in one or two cabinets, so they are more inclined to choose road transportation with lower cost.
Or in the current extraordinary period, choose to directly press the goods in the warehouse.
"Foreign customers still have a certain amount of inventory. If the factory stops production or the transportation is blocked for several months, it will face losses for small and medium-sized factories, freight forwarders and foreign customers." Wang Xiaojun told reporters.
(This article is from The Paper, for more original information, please download the "The Paper" APP)
Responsible editor: It is Dongdong
Photo Editor: Jiang Lidong
Proofreading: Luan Meng