China closed the port because of a single infected

China closed one of its key terminals in the port of Ningpo-Zhoushan in the eastern province of Zhejiang on Thursday. The reason for the closure of the world's third busiest port was the detection of a single case of covid infection in one employee. This is the second case of closure of an important Chinese port due to coronavirus this year. This is causing problems for many companies around the world. Ningpo port is the third busiest port in the world in terms of container volume. According to the World Maritime Transport Council, it handled 27.49 million container units in 2019. According to the Chinese state media, all incoming and outgoing services in the terminal, which is crucial for handling shipments to Europe and North America, were suspended on Wednesday until further notice. "China has zero tolerance for covid. One positive test and everything will close immediately, ”Dawn Tiur, general manager of the Sourcing Industry Group's Sourcing Industry Group, told CNBC, adding that China's position would have serious consequences for suppliers around the world. According to analysts, China's approach to covid, when it shuts down an important port for a single case, puts even more pressure on already tight chains of suppliers. Supply chains have already been severely constrained this year by problems such as the lack of containers or the incident with ships in the Suez Canal. In addition, container transport prices have been rising sharply this year. According to Freightos Baltic's global container shipping index, rates for container shipping from China and East Asia to the west coast of North America have risen by more than 270 percent this year to more than $ 15,800 per TEU. This is an abbreviation of the English Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit, 1 TEU is the equivalent of one 20-foot container. Meanwhile, rates on the East Coast have risen more than 220 percent, reaching more than $ 17,500 per TEU, according to the index.