SILA Global – COVID-19 Weekly Update 07/04/2020
Dear Reader,
Please find below weekly update of major international hubs experiencing COVID-19 restrictions:
Canada: Working as normal
China: Working as normal, limited space & higher air rates
India: Complete lockdown until 14/04 – only medical, food & approved items allowed to move
Indonesia: Partial lockdown until 14/04 – working with decreased hours/less capacity. Air rates are high
Italy: All but essential services shutdown
Germany: Space is extremely limited, non-essential services shut until April 20
Korea: Working as normal – limited space & vessel delays
Malaysia: Partial shutdown in place – essential OK, non-essential requires exemption. Less air/sea capacity
New Zealand: 4 weeks lockdown – essential services OK
Peru: Isolation required until 13/4. Air & sea freight OK however with delays.
Philippines: Partial shutdown – some zones have suspended business.
South Africa: Government lockdown until 16/04 – partial shutdown in place. Supply chain for essential services is OK
Taiwan: Working as normal – limited space & higher air rates
USA: Working as normal – some partial shutdown in some areas
UK: 3 week lockdown in place with all non essential shops closed. End delivery points impacted by lockdowns but supply chain still open
Vietnam: Partial shutdowns in place – delays and less capacity
Please also find below latest update from the FTA
China – Update
Our sources from China have provided us with the following updates:
China has started to release the restrictions in Hubei province step by step as mentioned last week, the city should be back to normal from April 8. Currently, China have over 771 imported cases, and local new cases in the last week is less than 20.
According to Beijing Daily, March 31, Chinese government are starting to monitor all back to work companies and factories to reduce the possibility of a second wave. Most of the big cities are keeping entertainment facilities either closed or in some cases partially back to normal business.
According to a study at the RENMIN UNIVERSITY of CHINA, the GDP increase rate for China will be 3%-4% in 2020, due to the impact of the coronavirus. It will trigger the possibility of a Global Economy downturn.
CCTV news March 29, the productiveness of the majority of eastern and southern provinces is back to around 90%. Some big cities are close to 100%, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing etc.
Normal trains services have started back in Hubei province, so the human resources from Hubei province are going back to other provinces to fill the demands (Xinhua news March 30). However, the Health checks and control policy are still being implemented.
According to chinaports.org March 27, from March 9 thru 15 the average throughput increased over 10% for all the ports in China compared to the previous week. From March 16 thru 22 most of the ports kept the same numbers. From March 16 Wuhan port is also back to operating.
However, according to many sources the rebounding of Chinese exports at the end of March and April is not as strong as expected, due to Global pandemic situation.
Maritime Strategies International (MSI), on March 30, also warned the whole forwarding industry that at the beginning of May there will be a big downturn again, as Europe and USA are locking down and stopping or slowing down their overseas purchases.
General Updates
Dubai – Dubai government has established a “work from home” module from March 25 thru April 9. Also note no PAX flights into / out of Dubai, with exception of freighters. Dubai Customs will have limited staff so expect delays.
India – Lockdown March 25 for 21 days – borders closed and only essential services and goods moving – delays can be expected to cargo movement in / out of the country
New Zealand – New Zealand has announced a move to “level 4” lockdown for a period of 4 weeks commencing Wednesday March 25. – essential goods have no restrictions – non essential goods are being moved dependent on consignee availability / compliance – some shipping lines / stevedores accepting requests for relief of demurrage / detention
South Africa – Lockdown March 27 till April 16 – strict controls only allowed to leave home for medical care / food shopping / medicine etc – supply chains involved in providing essential goods to essential services ok to work
Spain – Lockdown March 31 thru April 9 – essential services only (supply chain particpants in these areas can work)
United Kingdom – Lockdown March 23 and will be assessed in 3 weeks – all non essential shops close – supply chain still operating but a number of businesses are working from home which is impacting cargo delivery
Impact on Shipping *Update* –
In response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, a number of countries, ports and organisations are publishing details of the measures being put in place. Please review the link as required. https://www.nepia.com/industry-news/coronavirus-outbreak-impact-on-shipping/