Shanghai’s daily average container throughput has recovered to 126,000 TEU, or 95% of pre-lockdown levels as the world’s busiest box port works to regain the productivity lost during the two-month lockdown that ended early this month.
Throughput on 18 June alone reached a single-day high of 142,500 TEU. The figures were released by China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) during a press briefing on 27 June.
MOT’s transport service department director-general Cai Tuanjie said that all the ministry’s divisions are working with authorities in Shanghai and nearby provinces to accelerate work and production in logistics and transportation.
Speaking at the same briefing, vice-minister Zhao Chongjiu said, “It’s expected that in the first half of this year, the national railway, water transport, and postal freight volume will exceed the level of the same period in 2019 (the year before Covid-19 hit).”
While trucking availability was limited due to Covid-19 testing during the lockdown, Zhao said this has improved.
He noted, “The current national transportation network is generally smooth, the national highways and port waterways remain unblocked, and there are no temporarily closed expressway toll stations and service areas.”
Zhao added that on 24 June, highway truck traffic reached 7.48 million, an increase of 18.3% over the same period in 2019.
Container throughput in China’s major ports was also up by over 2% year-on-year in H1 2022, reaching 124 million TEU.
Cai said that efforts will be made to improve port and railway loading and customs clearance efficiency in important regions, such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
