Congestion at the world\u2019s biggest port in Shanghai is being compounded by reductions in air-cargo capacity at the city\u2019s main airport, a situation that\u2019s likely to raise costs further for the semiconductor industry.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s now taking more than two months for goods to get shipped by sea from Shanghai to the U.S., a wait time that\u2019s too long for the crucial chips used in everything from cars to computers, according to Keelvar, a European-based supply-chain services provider whose customers include Samsung Electronics Co., Logitech International SA and Siemens AG.<\/p>\n
But air cargo isn\u2019t providing the back up it might. The U.S. and China suspended\u00a0dozens of flights\u00a0over Covid-19 testing protocols earlier this month, while the discovery of an\u00a0infected worker\u00a0at Pudong airport\u2019s imported cargo handling facility on Jan. 24 sparked rounds of mass testing and sent hundreds of people into quarantine, although Chinese authorities said operations weren\u2019t immediately affected.<\/p>\n
Air-freight prices could be inflated by around one-third if disruptions to airport capacity continue, according to\u00a0Dylan Alperin, head of professional services at Keelvar.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses are looking to air to get goods out of congested ocean networks and locked down Chinese ports, but to no avail,\u201d Alperin said. \u201cWith the current inflated market, an additional 30% would be very significant on imports to the U.S. like computers, cell phones and chips — the most common commodities coming out of Shanghai.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation has echoes of an incident in Shanghai in August last year, when Shanghai Pudong International Airport shut its\u00a0entire cargo zone\u00a0after five workers at the terminal were found to be infected, prompting delays of electronic car parts out of China for Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corp.<\/p>\n
This year, shipping lines diverting container vessels from Ningbo to Shanghai to avoid a\u00a0trucking snarl in east China\u00a0are also contributing to congestion at the mega port.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main challenge is the airport situation in Pudong and other China airports,\u201d said Alex Hersham, CEO of digital freight forwarder\u00a0Zencargo.<\/p>\n
Additional Covid-19 curbs in China may impact airports and pose additional challenges for already stretched supply chains, he said.<\/p>\n
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