Maersk and CMA CGM reported that container ships are in low demand following the coronavirus outbreak in China and the extension of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Both shipping companies said operations at terminals, warehouses and offices in China remain uninterrupted, with the exception of Wuhan.

Not all lines have announced blank or null sailings. “We have no plans for blank sailings or to skip ports,” a Hapag-Lloyd spokesman said in a recent interview. “But we are following developments closely and will decide soon,” he added. For its part, in a notice to its customers, ONE indicated that, excluding ports in Hubei province, “ships are sticking to their normal schedules”.

That shipping companies should omit calls at ports and register blank sailings is a common practice around the Chinese New Year, as production and, therefore, demand for transportation from China’s exports decreases.

The extension of the vacation further reduced demand and led to cancelled schedules, said a Maersk representative, although the company has stressed that it strives “to balance our network to meet the reduced demand”.

Brazilian meat exports affected

According to Valor Econômico, congestion of the Chinese port system, has put Brazilian meatpackers and the government on alert.

According to the newspaper, the Ministry of Agriculture already admits that exports to China will suffer in the coming months. With cargo stuck at Chinese ports, the number of reefer plugs available to keep the containers refrigerated is increasingly scarce. Therefore, importers are moving cargo to ports in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Considering all meats, the Chinese spent US$ 4.5 billion to import 1.3 million tons of Brazilian products last year, according to Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture. This amount represented 27.3% of Brazilian all meat exports, generating US$ 16.5 billion.

Sources: Mundo Maritimo and Valor Econômico

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