MHD - Chinese port closure disrupts Australian trade

Australian importers say China's zero-case COVID strategy means a single infection can close an entire port, while strict regulations covering food products such as dairy transported via cold chain were creating further logistics bottlenecks.

Paul Zalai, Director of the Freight & Trade Alliance, says the port closure comes as importers are still adjusting to delays at Yantian, where similar health concerns resulted in extensive delays for several weeks up until mid-June.

"Even ports at Singapore and Hong Kong that set the benchmark in best practice in normal times are experiencing several weeks of delays in transhipping containerised cargo via their terminals," Paul says.

"The downstream impact is being felt hard locally, with shipping lines daily advising our industry of port omissions across Australia's container terminal."