European Ports Hit Hard by Coronavirus Lockdowns
Seaports are starting to reel from the coronavirus-driven upheaval in trade flows. The International Association of Ports and Harbors says in a new report that European ports have been the hardest hit so far, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Costas Paris writes, with ship calls falling by up to 25% at two-thirds of the continent’s gateways.
The declining calls are the result of the enormous numbers of sailings that shipping lines have canceled in recent weeks as the earlier supply pullback in China has shifted into a demand downturn among locked-down Western nations.
The capacity cuts are slicing into key revenue sources for ports. That raises the potential for aid at some ports that are absorbing the financial impact of the dimming business. Port volumes in the U.S. are sliding, with combined loaded container imports at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach off 8.1% in April.
By Paul Page, The Wall Street Journal
