MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Co is responding to falling demand and congested supply chains by offering a ‘suspension of transit’ service to customers exporting from China.

The suspension of transit programme will allow shippers to store containers at a number of transhipment hubs across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas in order to avoid higher storage charges at ports of discharge. This will help customers to bring their goods closer to their final destination.

“China has shown signs of recovery with factories restarting production,” MSC said in a statement.

“The programme builds on MSC’s ongoing efforts to ensure business continuity and the maintenance of vital container carriage services, such as the movement of food, fresh produce, medical equipment and other essential goods. The new suspension of transit initiative is focused in particular on a resumption of demand of a wide variety of goods from Asia.”

While “positive signs of recovery” had begun to emerge in Asia and factories had restarted production, major ports of destination may still not be ready to discharge containers, MSC said.

The programme will fulfil the resuming demand for raw materials and finished products from Asia by providing yard storage at major strategic points around the world, including Bremerhaven in Germany, Busan in South Korea, King Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia, Lome in Togo, Rodman PSA Panama International Terminal in Panama, and Tekirdag Asyaport in Turkey.

MSC said it would help customers control costs by avoiding expensive warehousing, demurrage and per diem costs.

“It will also free up space at origin factories and warehouses and avoid excess inventory at site, bringing cargo closer to destination markets and alleviating the risk of congestion or closure at ports of discharge,” MSC said.

When operations at destination countries resumed, cargoes would be closer to where they were needed, it added.