The coronavirus did not have a major impact on volumes for Chinese ports in January, with the northern port group of Shandong reporting 121 million tonnes of cargo throughput and 2.58 million TEU last month, an increase of 6.3 per cent and 6.4 per cent year on year.

Ningbo-Zhoushan port forecasts that it will handle 71.54 million tonnes cargo and 2.67 million TEU in January, a decline of 2.9 per cent and 3.3 per cent year on year respectively.

The port of Guangzhou expects to handle 38.748 million tonnes of cargo and 1.58 million TEU in January, a decline of 9.1 per cent and 9.9 per cent.

Due to the spread of the virus, both domestic and international ports and shipping companies have adjusted and restricted on ship deployment from/to/via China, a major decline on port figures is expected in February. An extended Chinese New Year holiday period to curb the spread of the virus has seen factories shut down for two weeks impacting export volumes.

Major container lines continue to operate at China's main coastal seaports, but the world's top ten operators have shelved at least two dozen sailings to China in recent weeks, ship calls at or through major Chinese ports have fallen by one-fifth since January 20, according to Alphaliner data.

Source:HKSG GROUP

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