Coronavirus is shaking the salmon logistics towards the Chinese market.
Earlier today it became known that SAS followed Finnair and British Airways, among others, and suspended flights to China. China is a major buyer of airborne salmon.
“There are many canceled flights to China in particular,” Morten Würgler, Schenker’s air cargo manager, told SalmonBusiness.
“We will probably also experience that salmon originally intended for China will find new markets in a transitional period”, says Würgler.
Under pressure
SalmonBusiness has been informed by several fish exporters that the salmon price has been put under pressure as a result of the absence of many Chinese buyers. This is especially true for heavier weight classes of salmon, which are normally earmarked air cargo.
In a freight update, which SalmonBusiness has gained access to, freight giant Schenker emphasizes that Hong Kong’s international airport is not affected by freight restrictions.
“All borders and customs are still open for cargoes entered from mainland China into HKG.”
Read Also: “China is starting to close its doors to salmon imports”
Low demand
“Air Terminal and Airlines operations remain normal. However, as shared before holidays, various airlines have been canceling flights due to low demand during CNY holidays in these 2 weeks. In the meantime, various airlines have noticed us they will further extend the flight cancellation period due to low cargo/ passenger demands as a result of China CNY holiday extension. This will impact the from China; Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Beijing, Xiamen, and Hong Kong.”
Schenker notes that the ocean port terminal operation is normal.
“We will keep monitoring,” it further states.
