The number of cases is growing in the textile metropolis.
(Photo: AP)
Dusseldorf Europe’s fashion retailers are worried about their supplies. Because in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou, the number of corona cases is increasing. The city with around 19 million inhabitants is considered China’s center of textile production. After more than 2,000 Covid cases were reported on Friday for the third day in a row, parts of the city are now closed off or are subject to strict restrictions.
“Should the city impose similar restrictions as Shanghai in the spring, significant delays in exports can be expected,” warns the US logistics surveillance service Project44.
The delivery stops are already causing traffic jams and delays in front of and in the ports of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. According to Project44, around 90 cargo ships with a total capacity of 435,000 containers are currently anchored or moored there. “The neighboring ports in Shenzhen (Yantian and Shekou) have high export retention times of more than eight days,” says a statement.
The current corona outbreak is the largest since spring 2022, when China’s leadership effectively sealed off the metropolis of Shanghai for two months. According to media reports, schools, shops and factories are now closed in Guangzhou. There are mass tests everywhere, with Beijing trying to enforce its controversial zero-Covid strategy.
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There are also said to be larger outbreaks in the capital Beijing and in the metropolis Chongqing. In the eastern Chinese city of Zhengzhou, a wave of infections recently affected Apple supplier Foxconn’s most important iPhone plant. According to the party newspaper “Global Times”, more than 1,000 flights were canceled in Guangzhou, and around 700 flight cancellations occurred at each of Beijing’s two airports.
Companies in Guangzhou produce for fashion chains such as H&M, TK Maxx and the British online fashion group Asos, but also for smaller brands such as Lemon Tree and Ishka. The current winter collections will probably not hit a delivery bottleneck, believes Axel Augustin from the Federal Association of Textile Retailers (BTE). “Fashion retailers have had these items in their warehouses for a long time,” he says. However, there could be problems with a longer-lasting lockdown from the turn of the year for spring fashion.
More: Distortions in world trade – the ports of Shanghai and Hamburg become bottlenecks