SIMIC

Manufacturers in southern China are currently making a last push to ship out goods before the Chinese New Year which starts February 1, with the People's Daily reporting that trucked volumes into Shenzhen's Yantian terminals were about 30 per cent above December levels.

Those goods are stacking up as ships coming to pick them up have in turn been delayed by congestion in the US and Europe.

Ships arriving to the Yantian terminal were delayed by seven day and the number of ships arriving from Europe and the US has fallen more than 40 per cent in the last two weeks, said a terminal advisory.

That comes on top of the problems Shenzhen port was already facing, with a Covid outbreak earlier this month leading to lockdowns of districts, testing of workers and trucking delays at the Yantian and Shekou container terminals.

The congestion has prompted the Yantian terminal to say it will start restricting the acceptance of containers. To stop operations getting worse, from Friday full containers can only be trucked in four days before vessels are due to berth, the operator said.

Last week was the peak period to ship goods in and out of China as workers will start to head home for the holiday, according to digital freight forwarder Zencargo. That's followed by a lull in activity before shipping demand picks up in mid-February.