East China port congestion threatens polymer exports

Congestion at the major east coast China ports of Ningbo Zhoushan and Shanghai is threatening to delay exports of finished polymer products as the peak year-end demand season nears.

The Meishan terminal at Ningbo-Zhoushan suspended all container uploading services after a worker tested positive for Covid-19 on 11 August. The terminal will be closed for two weeks until 25 August.

Ningbo Zhoushan, the world's third-busiest container port, handled 16mn standard containers in the first half of 2021, up by 21pc from the same period last year. The Meishan terminal accounts for about 20pc of its total volumes.

The worsening congestion at Ningbo and neighboring Shanghai, the main container ports in China, is likely to hamper export trades for container cargoes. The peak demand season for finished polymer products — toys, packages, electronics, appliances, Christmas gifts and decorations — is about to get under way in the run-up to the year-end festival season.

Market participants are watching the closure of the Meishan terminal nervously after a shutdown of more than a month at the Shenzhen Yantian International Container Terminal, the world's largest single-unit container terminal, in May-June caused disruption to the global container shipping market.