As China is now slowly getting back to production, the effects of the virus are being increasingly felt by other countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

You can be confident your business is in the right hands with TPS Global Logistics – our experienced and dedicated teams are working hard to keep your goods moving. The situation is constantly changing and if any businesses are concerned about their supply chain please contact us.

We are keeping a close eye on the global situation and our freight department managers are meeting daily to respond to developments, mitigating impact wherever they can. We are focussed on ensuring our customers’ operations continue as smoothly as possible during this difficult period.

An update on the position is as follows –

Some good news is that the largest container ship ever to call on the United States is arriving this week at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The MSC Eloane is rated to handle 19,500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and we hear it’s picking up empty containers and moving them to Asia where Chinese production is expected to reach 75% by Monday.

GENERAL SITUATION IN CHINA
Business in general is returning to normal. With the exception of the Wuhan/Hubei Province, factories across the nation are resuming production, manpower is ranging between 50-80%. A 14-day quarantine period is still imposed on those who have travelled from other provinces.
We expect production to return to full capacity by the end of March.

Export markets are still stifled by pressure on outbound air freight capacity across mainland China, as production resumes but passenger flight cancellations continue, these cancellations have reduced daily capacity by 5,100 tons. Wide-body belly capacity on outbound China flights was down 84% over the past two weeks.

Customers may want to explore alternative transport models (Sea/Air option or Cross-border road freight).

Europe/China Freight summary:
Air Freight
• Significant capacity constraints in European country trades with China due to passenger flight cancellations.
• Freight rates from Europe to China and Hong Kong have increased significantly in most countries.
• On the Trans-pacific to Europe route, we have also seen a significant increase in demand and price.

From America to Asia
• Passenger airlines from the Americas are suspended, with reduced frequencies to China, Japan and South Korea until at least the end of April.
• Freighter schedules from the US are still inconsistent, but are ramping up

Sea Freight
• Most Chinese ports are fully operational. The port of Wuhan is also gradually resuming operations.
• Blank sailings are slowing down.
• Rate and space issues continue for the next few weeks.
• We are aware of severe congestion at Shanghai, Tianjin and Ningbo ports due to slow collection of incoming containers

Road Freight
• Overall, trucking services in China continue to recover.
• The operation for cross-border trucking to and from Hong Kong (SAR, China) remains normal.
• The China/Vietnam border (Pingxiang border) resumed operations on Feb 17, 2020
• For cross-border trucking to Central Asian countries, the China/Kazakhstan border (Horgos border) remains closed until mid-March.
• Trucking to Europe via the China/Russia route (Manzhouli border) is continuing as normal.

GENERAL SITUATION IN ASIA PACIFIC, EUROPE AND THE AMERICAS
As new countries report cases of COVID-19, we are monitoring the situation very closely.

In Italy there have been 2,100+ flight cancellations in the month of March and April.

Whilst the country is in lock-down to prevent the spread of the virus, cargo transportation is continuing as usual, albeit with potential delays.

Trucking from and to Italy is still available and alternative routings have been implemented to ensure movement of cargo.

SOLUTIONS FOR URGENT SHIPMENTS

We are working closely with our shipping partners to provide solutions for urgent shipments and are committed to serving our valued customers. We have alternative transport modes and route solutions to support your business needs so speak to us about your requirements.

OUR EMPLOYEES AND PREVENTIVE HEALTH MEASURES

The health and safety of our customers and employees remains our top priority.

To date, we have no report of an infected case within our workforce. Global travel restrictions have been implemented and the following contingency operation will be activated if necessary.

• All business-critical office workers have the capability to work from home.
• We are ensuring self-isolation is met by our people should they meet any criteria requiring isolation.
• We have developed a robust business continuity plan to minimise disruption to our operations.
– We have highlighted key activities that will be prioritised and the staff that can complete this.
– We have been reviewing shift pattern to minimise the risk to our employees.
• Our warehouse and transport services will remain fully functional unless directed by the Government to shut down
• We will keep in contact with all our customers regarding any developments and we are maintaining a “business as usual” operation.

As a global logistics company with operations all over the world, we are supporting and working with our colleagues, customers and suppliers who are working hard to overcome the challenges brought on by this exceptional situation.

If you are affected and need freight assistance, please contact one of our team today +44 (0)1622 237979 email sales@tps-global.com