Re: Port Closed in China

NigelSparkles · ‎03-20-2010

@Just Bling Breitbart? Not really the most reliable source.

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

@Just Bling I don't even want to think about it, and that has nothing to do with the kinds of products QVC sells. I need major appliances and some tech updates, too. I can't begin to imagine the back orders if the shutdown lasts 2 weeks let alone 2 months or longer -- I'm thinking the latter will be the case. Diasaster for those of us with old appliances.

Johnnyeager · ‎09-05-2014

This news story is now reported on virtually all media outlets. Surely it's not a fabrication by all of them? CNBC, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, al Jazeera......

Just Bling · ‎03-10-2010

@Johnnyeager wrote:
This news story is now reported on virtually all media outlets. Surely it's not a fabrication by all of them? CNBC, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, al Jazeera......

Thank you. This is a tough crowd.

Johnnyeager · ‎09-05-2014

You would think that most of them have access to search engines rather than rely solely on QVC for current events.

FlyersGirl · ‎03-13-2010

Before I retired, I worked as a purchasing agent for a large catalog company. Most of the items we purchased came from China. ()

The port situation over there is a mess and has been for years. Covid has made a bad situation worse. When a port closes, even temporarily, (which, pre-Covid, these ports sometimes closed for several weeks at a time during Chinese New Year celebrations and other Chinese holidays), ships in the harbors back up, bidding wars emerge for container space for when the ports do open and sometimes, the re-opened ports do not have the staff to handle the huge demand to get goods loaded, so the entire supply chain over there is disrupted. Large companies/large orders typically win these bidding wars for containers which drive up the prices we pay here for those goods. All bets are off when it comes to shipping in these situations. A company, like the one I worked for, may have a "reservation" for goods to ship from a certain port on a specific container at a specific time, but when the ports back up, it is every man (company with deep pockets) for himself, so items that we expected to ship and arrive for our customers could be significantly delayed.

This is why we see so many "backorders" and "advance Orders" for items. QVC is large enough/orders enough quantity of items that their best guesstimate of timing of shipment of an advance order is usually pretty good. QVC is one of the many large companies that can pay a premium for container space. But, in the end, we see the ripple in increased prices.

For the smaller companies, like the one I worked for, we had to sometimes just wait it out to get goods. We had already paid for the items and the items would sit on the dock in China, waiting to get on a ship.. And it cost us even more just to house those items while they sat on the dock in China. Customers would get frustrated waiting for items and cancel orders. And we ordered with plenty of lead time, so it was not like it was stuff that was coming "last minute". Right now, August 2021, we would be sourcing/ordering items for fall and winter of 2022.

Port closures are a nightmare. And right now it looks like this holiday season, and early next year, will be impacted again with shortages.

MorningLover · ‎10-04-2015

Seatrade Maritime News

August 12, 2021

Tackling its largest Covid outbreak since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 China continues to operate a zero-Covid strategy of travel restrictions, locking down cities, and testing entire populations, when cases spring up.

In the case of Ningbo Zhoushan Reuters reported that a single employee of the Meidong terminal had tested positive for Covid-19. The employee who was fully vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine was believed to be asymptomatic.

It is not yet known if the infection is the Delta variant strain which Sinovac appears to have limited in efficacy against.

“Meidong firm immediately stopped all operations and shut down the port area after the Covid-19 test of the staff showed positive,” said Jiang Yipeng, deputy general manager of Ningbo Zhoushan Port.

The terminal is currently locked down with no movement of vehicles in or out and operations shutdown. All close contacts have been placed under observation, no more cases were reported till now.

The immediate impact of the closure is expected to be on the members of the Ocean Alliance – Cosco, CMA CGM and Evergreen – primarily using the terminal.

While container line Hapag-Lloyd told its customers: “With this sudden suspension, we expect a delay in planned sailings that might affect your cargo planning. Please know that we are working on alternatives, and hope for your understanding on a matter that is beyond our control.”

The terminal handles around 25% of the volumes at the world’s fourth largest container port Ningbo Zhoushan which has a throughput of 18.68m teu in the first seven months of 2021.

In terms of Ningbo – Zhoushan two key concerns will be how long will the closure last and more cases being found at other terminals resulting a wider scale shutdown of facilities at the key port.

An outbreak earlier this year at Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT) resulted in a three-week shutdown and major disruption to container shipping with ripple effects felt across trades globally.

But it also raises much wider fears for the supply chain if the current outbreak continues to spread with China having already put restrictions in place in a growing number of locations including Zhengzhou, Nanjing, Beijing, Wuhan, Yantai and Shanghai.

Further disruptions at ports would come at a critical time for container shipping and the supply chain as the sector moves into it peak season.

Already as Seatrade Maritime News reported yesterday delays between China and Europe and North America have been growing to 7.5 – 8.5 days on average on key China – Europe port pairs.

Meanwhile the US West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have seen congestion rising again with over 30 ships waiting at anchor to berth.

Should more major Chinese terminals stop operations due Covid outbreaks it could lead to the worst disruption the sector has seen since the start of the pandemic.

On It · ‎03-15-2021

@Just Bling wrote:
I read a port in China that services North America has indefinitely closed down.

Can you imagine the ramifications of this event.

The reference to Breitbart is missing from your post. I wanted to know if they explained why the port closed or omitted the facts to agitate readers.

stevieb · ‎03-10-2010

@Sooner wrote:
China can do anything they want to us.

@Sooner And, we let it happen. It would also seem we're doing little to move in a different direction going forward. Quite frankly, I could possibly support their zero tolerance policy. Perhaps had that approach been widely adopted, we'd be futher along than we clearly are.

In my pantry with my cupcakes...

Caaareful Shopper · ‎10-09-2012

@Just Bling wrote:
@Caaareful Shopper
I appreciate your comments but I would not start a thread on an old story.

This one is current and can be further read on Breitbart, it is definitely current and should be in everyone's news since it definitely affects the goods we all purchase and maybe some products the consumer is looking for.

@Just Bling Many, and I do mean many posters start threads on old and misleading stories. I was not directing that to you specifically. Since there was no source or timeframe of occurrence or source in your original post, I was only asking for context.

I've been out-of-pocket with the news this past week because of work issues.

I would never specifically think you or anyone would intentionally start a thread on an old story. I appreciate your heads up on this issue, as well as your reply. Thank you.