Last week, although Typhoon Khanun (Zhu Jiecao) had relatively limited impact, operations at the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo were suspended, resulting in delays for over 1 million TEUs of cargo in the Yangtze River Delta region.

According to Linerlytica, congestion at Shanghai and Ningbo worsened during the week as the typhoon made landfall between July 30 and 31, leaving more than 1 million TEUs of containers waiting at anchorages in the region.

Flight and ferry services were canceled, road and rail transport was disrupted, and port operations were temporarily suspended.

ICS Global Logistics reported that port activities in Shanghai were halted, causing delays of up to one week. In Ningbo, both port and warehouse operations were suspended due to unsafe conditions, with notices issued to stop empty container pickups and returns.

Hapag-Lloyd warned that delays of 2 to 4 days were expected at Shanghai, Ningbo, and Qingdao, while delays of 12 to 24 hours were reported in Singapore, Busan, and Yokohama. Sydney also experienced delays of 2 to 4 days due to the storm, contributing to vessel congestion and worsening port backlogs.

Linerlytica also noted that congestion is now affecting both Northern Europe and Asia. Additionally, nine SeaLead vessels—each with an average capacity of 5,700 TEUs operating on the Asia–Europe route—have been taken out of service. So far, these developments have not had a noticeable impact on spot market freight rates.