China: Covid-19 disrupts maritime transport
The Chinese port of Ningbo is the third largest in the world for shipping.
AFP - PETER PARKS
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Maritime traffic is disrupted around one of the main container ports in China due to the discovery of a case of Covid-19.
This week, an employee from the Ningbo-Zhoushan port on the east coast tested positive.
Consequence: the Chinese authorities immediately stopped the activity of the terminal concerned.
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Located 250 km from Shanghai, Ningbo is one of the most important Chinese ports for freight and the third in the world for shipping.
No less than 1.2 million tonnes of goods passed through it last year.
After the discovery of a case of Covid-19, 2,000 employees were put in isolation as a precaution.
As a result, operations had to be stopped at the Meishan terminal, the largest port area with a capacity of 10 million containers.
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See also: World trade: traffic jams in Chinese ports
Risk of a further price increase
This closure risks increasing pressure on other Chinese ports already under strain due to health restrictions and the restarting of the global economy.
Last May, the temporary closure for the same reasons of the Chinese port of Yantian located in the south had caused weeks of delays in the shipment of goods.
More worrying, this latest episode may lead to a further increase in the tariffs of maritime transport by containers, the prices of which have soared because of the health crisis.
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To read also: Covid-19 in China: faced with the Delta variant, the authorities engage in a health battle
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China
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