SHANGHAI (Reuters). A Danish shipper Maersk stated that Shanghai’s lockdown will significantly affect transport services and drive up costs. The Shanghai lockdown comes as China intensifies its efforts to stop the spread COVID-19, further disrupting global supply chains.

China’s coastal city of Shanghai, which is home to many of the busiest airports and seas in the world, started locking down half the area on Monday. It will continue this for the next four days, starting Friday.

Although it kept the airports and deepwater port of its ports open, it has put in strict movement curbs. It bans unapproved vehicles from the streets, and tells millions not to go outside their homes.

Maersk (the world’s 2nd-largest container shipping firm) advised clients Monday that the trucking services in Shanghai and out of Shanghai would be greatly affected by a lockdown in Shanghai’s Pudong, Puxi, areas until April 5th.

The statement also stated that Shanghai warehouses would remain closed through Friday.

This will result in a longer delivery period and possibly higher transport costs like detour fees and highway fees.

SEKO Logistics, an American freight transportation and warehousing firm, stated that factories from Zhejiang, the neighboring province, were choosing to ship cargo out of Ningbo port rather than Shanghai.

We expect a sharp rise in air freight rates starting today. On its website, it stated that they have received a number of high-end offers from Europe to send enquires.

China has been fighting the largest COVID-19 infection outbreak since its initial outbreak in late 2020. It placed locks on Changchun, Shenzhen and other hubs for manufacturing exports. This led to longer queues at major Chinese ports.

While the restrictions in Changchun remain in effect, they were relaxed in Shenzhen where factories and businesses were permitted to resume operation on March 21.

However, the survey of a state newspaper showed that Shenzhen’s conflict with COVID-19 is affecting up to 93% local small and mid-sized enterprises. This has led many companies suffering from production interruptions due to shutdowns, disruptions in supply chains and delays in execution of orders.