Concerns over supplies after lockdown of largest port in China

A partial lockdown in Ningbo city in East China's Zhejiang province, home to the world's largest port, has led to problems like fewer drivers and trucks, raising concerns about supplies for international brands such as Nike and Adidas, Global Times reported.
The Chinese authorities announced a lockdown in the district of Beilun in Ningbo following the discovery of a Coronavirus case on Saturday. The infected person is an employee of Shenzhou International, a major garment processing company in Ningbo that supplies global sports and leisure brands like Nike and Uniqlo.

Ningbo has reported 23 Coronavirus cases, and the outbreak is highly concentrated in Shenzhou's plant in Beilun.

Shenzhou released a statement on Monday, saying that parts of the company's production base in Beilun will halt production in the short term to conform to local segregation measures. The company will actively evaluate how the outbreak will affect its operations, the report said.

This has triggered some worries that China's Coronavirus spread might "hit" overseas clothing brands, the report said.

The lockdown in Beilun also has an impact of wider scope, as Beilun is one of the 19 areas of Ningbo-Zhoushan port and home to some of the city's busiest container terminals. Last year, the Ningbo-Zhoushan port's throughput exceeded 30 million standard containers, a record.

Experts said Shenzhou should have made contingency plans to cope with Coronavirus-triggered production stoppage, whether by shifting to other ports in China or letting the unaffected employees work. - IANS