How China's export surge left the shipping industry with a hangover

Falling freight rates show sign of overcapacity in the sector

20230405 Caixin main

Some analysts believe the Chinese shipping industry will rebound this year as global trade demand recovers.

LI RONGQIAN, QI ZHANNING and KELSEY CHENG, Caixin

Since early March, two of China's largest container truck yards near the major port city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province have been filled with nearly 3,000 idle vehicles with no cargo to haul.

Traffic at the Hengpu and Beilun parking lots, which primarily serve the port, has dropped dramatically over the last two years, several truck drivers told Caixin. During the shipping boom in 2021, some drivers would make 27 cargo deliveries per month on average, they said. Now they are happy if they can do two a week.

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