So far, the operations of two of the main ports of the Dominican Republic have not been affected by the congestion that has once again occurred in the shanghai portChina, one of the main in the world.
In the port located in Punta Caucedo, which is operated by the private company DP World, there have been no delays or retention of containers in Shanghai, as reported to this medium from the Department of Communications.
The Caucedo terminal handles more than 60% of the country’s port operations, according to institutional data.
Until now, the activities of the company HIT (Haina International Terminals), which operates in the Haina river port, have not been affected, informed the company’s commercial director, Cristyan Peralta.
“At the moment, the situation in Shanghai is not affecting the operations at Puerto Río Haina; nor do we expect them to be affected by this particular situation,” said Peralta, who specified that direct services from China arrive in the Dominican Republic through other ports in the country.
What do the shippers say?
The president of the Shipowners Association (ANRD), Teddy Heinsen, indicated that since China is such an important player in world trade, the closure of the port of Shanghai represents a natural disruption for the global supply and logistics chain and that this situation may cause delays in the delivery of goods, decrease in available containers, among others.
He said, however, that based on the lessons learned The national shipping sector is taking measures to face these challenges by seeking other, closer supply alternatives.
“The challenges will be part of this new normality that Covid has brought us and that we must face with a perspective of innovation, resilience and efficiency,” he stressed.
Heinsen added that this could even represent an important opportunity for the Dominican Republic through the figure of ‘nearshoring’a mechanism through which a company transfers its processes (tangible or intangible) to third parties located in distant destinations in order to reduce costs, as defined by Procolombia.
“Nearshoring is a strategic activity in this context, since our country shares similar uses, schedules, and geographic proximity with the United States, thus allowing customers to travel and have face-to-face meetings with their suppliers, in addition to the fact that the region It already has a fairly mature technology services platform, capable of offering quality even at a low cost”, he explained.
Situation
Several international media have reported that the port of Shanghai is becoming congested to the point that it is about to collapse due to the confinement that has been imposed on the city due to the increase in covid cases.
Forecasts
Maritime trade is again in a state of uncertainty due to the congestion of the port of Shanghai and the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Impact
This situation could trigger sea freight costs again, which have reached record highs.