Outbreaks of COVID-19 cases in the Chinese city of Ningbo have prompted fears of disruption to its major port and supply chains.
As of 5 January, the Ningbo Municipal People’s Government reported 31 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the neighbouring Beilun District, with all patients treated at designated hospitals.
Port operations at Ningbo-Zhoushan have yet to be impacted, however: the port handled 366,000 TEU containers in the first four days of 2022, equal to the same period from a year ago.
Though port operations have been unimpacted, the importance of Ningbo Port as a logistics hub was highlighted in August when the port partially halted operations for two weeks after a terminal staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
In a 6 January customer update, container line Maersk wrote that container load and discharge operations remain normal in the three terminals near the epidemic area of Beilun district. Zero positive cases have been reported in the three terminals: Ningbo Beilun Container Terminal NBCT (Ningbo Phase 2), Ningbo Beilun Second Container Terminal NBSCT (Ningbo Phase 3), and Ningbo Beilun Third Container Terminal NBTCT (Ningbo Phase 4).
Maersk added that vessel call and departure schedules remain normal so far.
There are some disruptions inland: Maersk wrote that trucking services in Jinhua Yongkang, the mid-high-risk area of Beilun district of Ningbo and the area outside Zhejiang province remains suspended under the strict regulation by the epidemic prevention policy. Zhejiang Provincial Government, local governments and Ningbo port have issued policies for the control and prevention against epidemic outbreak.
Ningbo Bluedragon LongXing warehouse operations have been completely suspended until further notice.
The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan was recently included in PTI’s ‘Top 10 Ports in China 2021’ following the recent container handling data from the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China.
