SIMIC

China says it is experiencing its biggest spike in Covid infections since an initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan in early 2020, Reuters reports.

The spread of the highly-infectious, but largely harmless, Omicron variant this month has led to movement controls across China, including in key manufacturing hubs of Shenzhen and Dongguan, paralysing factories making goods from flash drives to car parts.

While China's main ports remain open and vessels are continuing to dock, congestion is building up and some container ships are re-routing to avoid delays.

Charter rates are expected to ramp up, while delays to shipping freight grow longer.