Typhoon In-Fa slows air, ocean exports from China

Typhoon In-Fa made landfall over the weekend in eastern China, with heavy rain, flooding and strong winds impacting freight exports in several major ports and airports.

Although In-Fa’s winds have slowed to 40 mph, up to 20 inches of rainfall threatens to put some assets at high risk with severe flooding, including Shanghai Pudong Airport and the ports of Ningbo, Shanghai, Changzhou and Nanjing, Everstream Analytics said in its daily weather forecast Monday. The company’s weather analysts expect disruptions to continue through the middle part of the week as In-Fa slowly moves northward across portions of east-central China.

“Transportation disruptions will be moderate to significant due to damaging winds, storm surge, high seas and flooding. Infrastructure damage is possible. Supply chains should monitor the situation closely and take preparatory action for any locations within the zone,” the forecast said.

All flights in and out of Shanghai, Ningbo and Hangzhou were canceled Sunday and Monday, according to an alert issued by Chicago-based SEKO Logistics.

At the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo, container freight terminals have been shut down, vessel movements are delayed and warehouses are not receiving or delivering goods, SEKO said.

Shanghai and Ningbo, located on the edge of the Pearl River Delta, are the largest and third-largest container ports in the world. As such they are responsible for moving huge amounts of Chinese exports that help sustain the global economy.

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