China exports rebound as rattled ports cope with downturn

Two months after a near complete standstill, China’s ports are again pushing out thousands of containers.

The Port of Long Beach in California expects to be able to ride out the virus Picture: AFP

Two months after a near complete standstill in China that rattled global supply chains, the country’s ports are again pushing out thousands of containers that were stranded at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.

The massive build-up of boxes at docks in China has left a big shortfall in cargo at ports in the US and Europe since early February, and created a shortage of empty containers that Western exporters need to ship everything from farm products to electronic parts. As China returns to work, fears are rising that the Western ports won’t be able to handle a flood of imports as seaports and coastal cities face their own shutdowns and economic disruption.

“There is a lot of relief that China is waking up after a long ­hiatus,” said George Lazaridis, head of research at Greece-based Allied Shipbroking.

“But what happens if truck drivers and crane operators can’t work in Hamburg, Rotterdam or Los Angeles and New York. Who is going to pick up the boxes?”

US and European ports have generally been operating normally, although many sites have reported sharply reduced business as global trade has slowed under the pandemic.

Shipping executives said they were taking new precautions to protect their own workers and that disruptions could come if some port workers get sick and are quarantined or if authorities impose blanket public lockdowns for an extended period.

“While the situation is improving in Asia, especially China, new measures have been taken in some other places to protect the health of our staff,” French container line CMA CGM said in a notice late last week. “As far as France, all staff members will work from home until further notice.”

China government figures showed container volumes at the country’s largest eight ports fell 19.8 per cent in February, during the peak of the lockdowns, from the year before.

Container volumes from China into California’s three largest seaports — Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland — were off 35.2 per cent in February from a year ago, according to trade data research group Panjiva.

Gene Seroka, executive director at the Port of Los Angeles, said he did not expect the same sort of virus disruptions that crippled Chinese megaports like Shanghai and Ningbo last month.

“We never saw a port closure in China, and I don’t believe we’ll see a port closure here in Los Angeles,” Mr Seroka said. “We have 100,000 people … an ample workforce that is healthy and has the ability to flex based on the needs of cargo flow and personal health and safety requirements.”