Even though Shenzhen, China, allowed factories and public transport to restart Friday after six days of lockdowns to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, global supply chains have already been impacted.
A.P. Møller – Maersk A/S, the world's largest container shipping company by capacity, told clients China's zero-tolerance approach against the virus has already produced new supply chain snarls and logistical delays.
"While manufacturing also takes place in other parts of the country, these delays will still affect output, though not drastically," Maersk said in a memo to clients obtained by Bloomberg.
Maersk has activated contingency plans in China following the six-day lockdown in Shenzhen. The disruption shuttered factories and brought the transportation industry to a grinding halt.
What happens in China tends to have severe consequences elsewhere because it accounts for a third of the world's total manufacturing capacity. Shenzhen is a top manufacturing hub in China and has the Port of Shenzhen, one of the largest in China. If you're purchasing an electronic on Amazon, it's likely it was made in China and shipped out of this region on a container ship.