South Africa Extends Lockdown and Suspends Wine Exports, Port of Virginia to Consolidate Terminals
South Africa extends lockdown and suspends wine exports
The government of South Africa extended lockdown measures yesterday for another two weeks through April 30th, 2020. Transportation of wine for export purposes was initially relaxed last week following extensive industry efforts, but again has been suspended as of yesterday in an official press release from the office of Minister Fikile Mbalula (attached). For more information from industry organizations please reach out to Wines of South Africa or VinPro. For any questions on pending shipments please reach out to your usual Hillebrand contact.
Port of Virginia to consolidate terminals
The Port of Virginia announced this week that due to market conditions, notably the decline in current and forecasted volumes, they will close Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) effective Monday May 4th, 2020.
All ocean carrier services will be consolidated and handled at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) and Virginia International Gateway (VIG). Gate hours will be adjusted at those terminals to 7AM Monday through Friday.
Your transport and supply chain needs
Our shipping partner Hillebrand and the operations team are working hard to schedule container deliveries and pickups according to revised schedules at port terminals and at facilities across North America. You can schedule notifications on any pending shipments online at myHillebrand to get up-to-the minute alerts.
Hillebrand is here to help you navigate this ever changing environment; please reach out with any questions. You can also find updated status on ports, shipping corridors, and recommendations for navigating the current transport environment in the North American Shipping Update (4/17/2020) here.