Track announced! Shenzhen epidemic may affect next week's shipping schedule

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sellers has continued and has not diminished at all as the year draws to a close.

Yesterday, in Shenzhen, a gathering place for cross-border sellers, two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported. Not long ago, there were also reports that due to the rapid spread of the mutated new coronavirus Omicron strain in the United States, the COVID-19 positive diagnosis rate among dock workers and office staff in the two major ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has soared. Among the 150 dock workers tested, about 100 tested positive, with a positive rate of 67%.

The status of Shenzhen and the United States in the hearts of sellers is self-evident. At the end of the year, sellers are busy preparing goods and shipping. The impact of this epidemic on them is obvious.

Two new confirmed cases in Shenzhen, sellers drop "depth bombs"

Yesterday, the news of "two new local confirmed cases in Shenzhen" was all over the seller circle. As we all know, Shenzhen gathers most of the cross-border e-commerce sellers in China, and many ecosystems such as logistics are gathered here. In addition to the epidemic itself, one of the confirmed cases this time is also linked to the cross-border e-commerce town "Sakata", which is tantamount to dropping a "depth bomb".

As soon as the epidemic broke out, the cross-border circle began to worry about various things.

Those who are worried about the impact on logistics :

“——Sea transportation is 100% affected. I don’t know if the shipping schedule next Monday will be delayed again;

——Hurry up and ship out the goods and get ready, and pray that the ship next Wednesday will not be affected. "

Those who are worried about not being able to return home :

“——I was ready to buy tickets today, but when I saw this news, I was so disappointed. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to go home;

——I celebrated the New Year on the spot last year, but I don’t want to come again this year. I hope the number will be reduced as soon as possible. I want to go home.

——My home is in Xi’an, I work in Shenzhen, and I miss home.”

Judging from the feedback, many sellers and logistics service providers have already implemented home office. I believe that many people in the cross-border circle lined up for nucleic acid testing yesterday and last night. Now, after a day and a night of nucleic acid testing and investigation, there is news about the activity trajectory of the cases and the mutant strains, and Shenzhen has also announced corresponding response measures.

After preliminary investigation, the main activity trajectory of the two cases was taking the subway to and from home and workplace.

In terms of subways, it mainly involves Line 5, Changlong, Huangbeiling, Baigelong, Wuhe subway stations, Line 8 Liantang subway station, Line 10 Beier Road subway station. Other areas and places include Buji Street Bakery, Bantian Street Qinglaxian Fast Food Restaurant, Buji Street Chongqing Malatang Youyicun Store, Buji Street Niu Dashuai Changsheng Store, Shenzhen Buji MixC, Dongxinling, Ping An Wanjia Life Supermarket, etc.

Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention has completed the sequencing of the whole genome of the new coronavirus for two cases. The results show that Case 1 and Case 2 were infected with the Delta variant, which has 100% homology, and is not Omicron as previously speculated. However, the source of infection is not yet clear.

Now, Shenzhen Metro Line 2 Liantang Port, Xianhu Road Station, and Liantang Station have suspended operations. To leave Shenzhen, one must hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 48 hours . Longgang District and Luohu District have suspended large-scale gatherings, and all off-campus education and training institutions (subject and non-subject) in the city have suspended any form of offline training services.

As of press time, no new cases have been announced.

100 out of 150 dock workers tested positive, Omicron hits U.S. ports hard

In addition to Shenzhen, the situation in the United States is not optimistic. According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 6:21 am Beijing time on January 8, 2022, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States reached 59,114,417, and the cumulative number of deaths reached 835,929. In the past 24 hours or so, the United States has added 822,305 new confirmed cases and 2,437 new deaths.

Looking at these data, one can already imagine how severe the current epidemic situation in the United States is. However, on the 7th local time, Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview with U.S. media that she believed that the current round of the epidemic in the United States has not yet reached its peak, and the Omicron strain is more contagious, and there will be more cases of infection in the United States.

The spread of Omicron has had a serious impact in the United States. Regarding ports, which are of concern to sellers and logistics companies, according to the latest report from the U.S. Business Daily, Jim McKenna, chairman of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), revealed that about 150 dock workers on the West Coast of the United States were tested on Tuesday, of which about 100 tested positive.

Not only dock workers, but also office workers have seen a rapid increase in the positive diagnosis rate. Despite this, the worst has not yet arrived, Jim McKenna pointed out that "the next two weeks will be terrible."

Alan McCorkl, president of Yusen Terminals, a container terminal in Los Angeles, pointed out that because many people have been quarantined due to the epidemic, most of the test results of dock workers and managers have been positive. Yusen is working hard to restore the workplace safety precautions that took effect in 2020 and early 2021.

The congestion problem at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach is already very serious. Data shows that as many as 101 ships were waiting at the port on the 3rd of this month. Now that a large number of dock workers have been infected, the labor shortage problem will be further exacerbated. Once the labor force is insufficient, the working time of ships at berth will be extended, and the workplace safety precautions will be re-implemented, making the congestion problem even more serious.

Based on past experience, as congestion worsens, freight rates are bound to rise again. Ocean freight forwarders believe that in this case, port congestion surcharges are likely to be imposed, but since the Chinese government stipulates that shipping companies cannot levy surcharges, if necessary, freight rates will be directly increased.

It is worth noting that Omicron is now restricting the freight workforce in the United States. Joc.com reported that not only ports, but also railroads, truck transportation, and warehouse operations have been further frustrated.

Arguably, the weakest link in the workforce is distribution centers and warehouses. Seeing the threat escalate, Amazon reinstated its mask requirement for distribution center workers on December 21, according to CNBC.

Similar to 2021, warehouse operators are struggling to retain employees as they jump ship for higher-paying jobs amid a labor shortage, according to an analysis by two academics.

Warehouse operators told Reuters they have increased wages significantly but are still short of the workers needed to pick and load trailers and containers.

While truck drivers are at lower risk of infection than warehouse and port workers, they are not immune. Moreover, as Omicron spreads, shippers and warehouse operators will inevitably tighten or re-implement workplace safety procedures. At this time, there will be more demand for "contactless" and paperless freight pickup and delivery, allowing truck drivers to make deliveries without face-to-face interaction with shippers or consignees' employees. Truck drivers may also be more reluctant to make in-house deliveries as requested by some customers.

Even if Omicron does not have a major direct impact on trucking, its indirect effects could push more cargoes into the spot market, thereby increasing spot prices and putting more pressure on contract prices when shippers and their trucking partners negotiate annual contracts.

Shenzhen Epidemic