Closures in China’s Zhejiang Province have resulted in several factory closures and new restrictions have been placed on trucking.

China reported new cases of Covid in Tianjin and Guangzhou this week, including the Omicron variant, but the outbreak in Zhejiang, another major manufacturing center, remains the most serious.

For example, 20 listed companies operating in the province have suspended their activities, according to Reuters, including manufacturers of batteries, textiles and pharmaceuticals.

They include those in Zhenhai District in Ningbo, a key petrochemical center, currently under lockdown, and Shangyu District in neighboring Shaoxing town, under partial lockdown, with all factories other than those producing essential items and required PPE. to suspend production.

According to Chinese media, the restrictions have had an impact on textile companies and their access to the port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, as truck drivers are reluctant to enter the area due to quarantine requirements. In addition, Ningbo has tightened restrictions on truck drivers entering its container terminals, based on the areas they have previously visited.

David Fan, sales manager at Twings Supply Chain, believed that although the situation in the province was developing rapidly, it was under control. He said The charging star: “For the moment, the port of Ningbo has not received an obvious impact.

“However, it is inevitable that the epidemic situation in the city will have some impact on the truck transport of import and export containers, as many regions require truck drivers to provide a certificate of nucleic acid testing. negative. It takes time to test and get certified, so it will cause a slight delay in domestic trucking. “

According to MarineTraffic, 30 container ships are currently waiting in front of the port of Ningbo.

Elsewhere, Hangzhou, the provincial capital, is partially closed and hundreds of domestic flights from the city’s airport have been canceled.

ANZ Research said the Zhejiang manufacturing disruption will primarily affect fiber and textile production and compared the likely impact on the supply chain to the power rationing experienced in September and October.