Many goods transported by ship are currently stuck. The proportion of goods on ships that are currently not moving is almost twelve percent, almost as high as at peak times in 2021, as reported by the “Handelsblatt” (Tuesday), citing data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW). Only cargo ships that are not currently being handled in ports are recorded. The majority of the affected ships are therefore dammed up in front of the ports. Before the corona pandemic in 2019, the value fluctuated around seven percent, as further shown by the IfW data.
According to the report, experts see the development primarily as a result of China’s rigid pandemic policy – as was the case in 2021. At the time, closed ports in China had led to bottlenecks and congestion in shipping traffic. The peak value for goods on stationary ships beyond ports was around 14 percent in 2021. IfW project manager Vincent Stamer said of the current situation: “Should various supply chains collapse again due to China’s Covid policy, the damage to the global economy would be considerable.”
Analysis of ship movements at the Chinese ports by the IfW also showed that exports from the port of Shanghai have collapsed in recent days and are around 30 percent below the development of other ports in China. Due to new corona infections, Shanghai has been largely sealed off since the end of March, and the city is largely locked down. (dpa)