SIMIC

Katherine Si | Nov 15, 2021

Since the first infection was reported on 4 November, a staff working for a local cold storage base, Dalian port has maintained stable operations.

Local import cold supply chain related companies, third parties, bonded and individual cold storage food producers and sellers suspended operation temporarily, which is likely to affect the circulation of cold supply chain goods in domestic market as well as export market. 

Related: Ningbo terminal closure and what if Covid hits more Chinese ports

Dalian is the biggest cold supply chain import city in China. Nearly 70% cold supply chain goods are imported through Dalian port, with more than 600,000 employees are handling imported cold-chain products.

Residents in Dalian have faced city wide testing following the latest outbreak

Related: Maersk warns Yantian port congestion a ‘much bigger disruption’ than Suez Canal closure

The Ministry of Transport issued the eighth version notice of Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control measure guideline to port and front-line staff early this month, for strengthening the control of overseas Covid-19 importations and implement the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control measures strictly.

So far, other Chinese port operations in the region remain largely unaffected.

Covid outbreaks in Chinese ports are of major concern to shipping, especially the container sector which saw major impact from the three-week closure of around 70% of Yantian port earlier this year. In August Ningbo-Zhoushan’s Ningbo Meishan Island International Container Terminal (MSICT) was closed due to a single Covid case among its workforce. However, the rest of the port continued to operate meaning the impact on global shipping was not as great as that of the Yantian closure.