On 1 September, 12:00 pm CET (18:00 Chinese time), the city of Chengdu entered a three-day lockdown following China’s zero-covid policy. The Chengdu Central Container Terminal will take some strict epidemic restriction measures for the following days that could also impact rail freight services between Chengdu and Europe.

More precisely, the measures concern the entry and exit of ‘outsiders in the terminal’s facilities, which will be entirely banned for the three days to come. In practice, this means that trucks can’t enter or leave the container terminal, and no container pick-up and return are allowed. The measures concern both import and export cargo while entering the terminal is only permitted in cases of pandemic prevention or construction reasons.

Silk Road traffic

According to BTT Freight Management, which operates services between Tilburg, in the Netherlands, and Chengdu, Chengdu railway company informed that “all container depots (besides CIPO) should follow the COVID-19 regulation to be closed until the lockdown is over. It is not allowed to arrange any operation work.”

Additionally, according to some of the company’s clients, it is still possible to pick up cargo from other cities in China, but it is unsure if cargo/containers can enter Chengdu before 4 September.

Considering that no containers or people will be allowed to enter or exit the Chengdu Central Container Terminal for three days and that no container depots will operate, the industry could expect some delays at the least. In any case, RailFreight.com is in contact with the parties involved in Chengdu’s services and will keep the situation up to date.

Also read:

• Yiwu out of lockdown, trains never stopped running

• How does the lockdown in Shanghai affect rail freight?

• Lockdowns in China put even more strain on the supply chain at a critical time

• New lockdowns in China, concern for more supply chain turmoil