Shanghai COVID-19 lockdown restricts trucking to the port

Name: Measured effect: Shanghai COVID-19 lockdown restricts trucking to the port
Creator: World Freight Monitor
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Shanghai COVID-19 lockdown restricts trucking to the port. The disruption ran from 2022-03-28 (28 March 2022) to 2022-06-01 (1 June 2022), 66 days, affecting Shanghai, Shanghai (Yangshan). Shanghai (Yangshan) averaged 15.0 calls per day during the event window against an expected 11.5 (+30.7%). Shanghai averaged 23.5 calls per day during the event window against an expected 32.9 (-28.7%).

Key facts

Started: 2022-03-28 (28 March 2022)
Ended: 2022-06-01 (1 June 2022)
Status: ended
Type: Regulatory or customs action
Severity: 3 Significant
Scope: regional
Chokepoints: None
Ports: Shanghai, Shanghai (Yangshan)
Lanes: None
Countries: China
Confidence: medium: The lockdown dates and the statement that the port kept working are supported by a carrier advisory and by reporting of the city government's own announcement, but we could not retrieve a city or port authority page stating the 2022-03-28 start directly. The window does not overlap Lunar New Year or China's National Day holiday exclusions, though it runs for more than 28 days, so the year ago comparison applies.
First reported: 2022-04-06 (6 April 2022)

Severity basis: Landside access to the principal container port of China was restricted for more than two months, the closest non measured criterion to a port level restriction of seven days or more, since the terminals themselves stayed open.

What happened

Shanghai began a staged COVID-19 lockdown on 2022-03-28 (28 March 2022), starting in Pudong and extending to the rest of the city from 2022-04-01, and lifted citywide restrictions on 2022-06-01 (1 June 2022). The container terminals at Yangshan and Waigaoqiao kept working under closed loop arrangements, and the carrier Maersk reported in early April that terminal operations continued without delay. The restriction fell on the landside: trucking capacity into and out of the city was cut by driver shortages, testing and quarantine rules, and warehouses inside locked down areas stopped work. Carriers shifted boxes to barge and rail and omitted some calls. The city said normal production and daily life would resume from 2022-06-01, and trade press reported container work close to normal levels in early June.

Measured effect

Container ship port calls, Shanghai

Baseline (expected): 32.9 calls per day
Observed: 23.5 calls per day
Change: -9.5 (-28.7%)
Standardised score: -1.6
Event window: 2022-03-28 to 2022-06-01 (66 days)
Baseline window: 2022-01-17 to 2022-03-20 (34 valid days)
Method: wfm-effect-1.0
Computed: 2026-09-19 (19 September 2026), data revision 1:a48ec8c891fe

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.

Container ship port calls, Shanghai (Yangshan)

Baseline (expected): 11.5 calls per day
Observed: 15.0 calls per day
Change: +3.5 (+30.7%)
Standardised score: +1.0
Event window: 2022-03-28 to 2022-06-01 (66 days)
Baseline window: 2022-01-17 to 2022-03-20 (34 valid days)
Method: wfm-effect-1.0
Computed: 2026-09-19 (19 September 2026), data revision 1:39433246b789

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

Timeline

2022-03-28A staged lockdown begins in Pudong, the district that holds part of the port's landside operations, and extends to the rest of the city from 2022-04-01. [s1]
2022-04-06Maersk reports that the Yangshan and Waigaoqiao terminals are operating normally for vessel, yard and gate work, while trucking capacity is reduced and warehouses inside locked down areas are affected. No Shanghai calls had been cancelled at that point. [s1]
2022-05-31The city government says normal production and daily operations will resume from 2022-06-01, with public transport restarting and most residents free to leave their compounds. [s2]
2022-06-01Citywide restrictions are lifted. [s2]
2022-06-06Trade press reports Shanghai handled just over 3.4 million TEU in May against a normal month of close to 4 million, with container ship calls down 16 percent against May 2021, and waiting times back near seasonal norms as trucking recovered. [s3]

Cause

The restrictions were COVID-19 control measures ordered by the Shanghai city government during an Omicron outbreak, lifted when the city said the outbreak had been brought under control. Attributed by: Shanghai Municipal People's Government. [s2]

Resolution

2022-06-01 (1 June 2022): The city lifted citywide restrictions from 2022-06-01 and removed limits on which businesses could reopen. Container work at the port returned close to normal levels over the following days, with trucking the slowest part to recover. [s2] [s3]

Corrections

No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026).

Sources

[s1] Maersk, Covid flareups in China continue, published 2022-04-06 (6 April 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
[s2] Global Times, Shanghai to fully resume normal production, daily operations from June 1, published 2022-05-31 (31 May 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
[s3] The Maritime Executive, Shanghai's Port is Nearing Normal Operations After Two-Month Lockdown, published 2022-06-06 (6 June 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)