Typhoon aftermath, Andean snow closure and low Rhine levels hit trade lanes concurrently
Yantian and Shekou resumed operations after Typhoon Noul but with high congestion and yard pressure. The Los Libertadores border crossing between Chile and Argentina was closed by heavy snowfall, with reopening expected around 4 August plus roughly a week of backlog clearing. Low water on the Rhine and Danube cut inland barge capacity in Germany.
Key facts
- Three disruptions hit concurrently in the week of 22-28 July 2026: Yantian/Shekou congestion post-Typhoon Noul, a snow closure on the Chile-Argentina Los Libertadores crossing, and low Rhine/Danube water cutting barge capacity.
- Los Libertadores reopening is expected around 4 August, plus roughly a week clearing backlog.
Beyond the crossing itself, Kuehne+Nagel logged significant backlogs, vessel delays and equipment shortages at Chilean ports, covering 20ft, 40ft and high-cube boxes, with equipment repositioning delays continuing across the country, so the kit needed to move stranded loads was itself scarce. European destination yards left little slack: Bremerhaven was nearing 95% occupancy, Hamburg's CTA had congestion, labour shortages and planned crane maintenance, and Antwerp's 7-day average vessel waiting time was around 2.25 days, with berth repairs and crane maintenance at Q913 from 27 to 30 July. Le Havre was the looser node at about 50% yard occupancy, though reefer utilisation there was already elevated. Wildfires in Spain and southwestern France were disrupting road and rail, and Barcelona had a rail service suspension planned for 2 to 8 August.
Asian origin yards ran tight too: Vung Tau above 90% density, Ho Chi Minh City above 80%, Singapore around 80%, and Port Klang's WSP terminal at 80-85%, with maintenance dredging at berths 23-24 postponed to 3-12 August. Jakarta's JICT was expected to take delivery of a new quay crane on 1 August, with one berth blocked for 7 to 10 days during commissioning. Hong Kong's 7-day average vessel waiting time was around 1.07 days.
Why it matters
Three of these hit named agri lanes directly. The Los Libertadores closure is the road link Chilean and Argentine produce and reefer trucking depends on — a week of backlog on top of the closure is a shelf-life problem, not just a scheduling one. For any reefer booking through these nodes in the next fortnight, confirm plug availability at origin and terminal appointment at destination separately.