Insecurity in the Red Sea is causing numerous detours by merchant ships, seeking to avoid attacks by Yemeni rebels. To the point of jeopardizing China’s entire export chain.
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Security issues in the Red Sea, along with Houthi attacks, are increasingly weighing on world trade. It is one of the busiest sea lanes for merchant ships. And one of the most affected countries is China. Insecurity in the Red Sea is seriously disrupting the exports of the world’s second-largest economy.
The Yiwu market in the southeast of the country is the temple of Chinese exports. Hundreds of factories here produce the bulk of small goods “made in China”. Before Chinese New Year, the machine traditionally runs at full speed, goods must be exported as quickly as possible before the start of the holidays.
Bursting warehouses
But this year, the security situation in the Red Sea shook the organization. A detour through South Africa is necessary to avoid attack. Ships are taking longer to return to China and warehouses are piling up.
“Our customers are in a hurry because they have a lot of goods to export and transport before the Chinese New Year.says Wang Bingqing, manager of a large logistics company in Yiwu. But the frequency of ships is decreasing and the transit time is increasing. So they cannot sell their goods before New Year. We have a 7,000 m² warehouse on the edge of Yiwu and it’s full.”
“There is not much space in the containers. Traders are very worried.”
Wang Bingqing, manager of a logistics companyat franceinfo
Besides Yiwu, the entire Chinese economy, heavily dependent on exports, is affected. The port of Ningbo, south of Shanghai, one of the largest in the world, finds itself completely saturated. There are no longer enough containers and ships to ship goods.
