Shenzhen Lockdown Leaves U.S. Ports Bracing for Fallout

China’s strict Covid-control policy could result in renewed supply-chain disruptions in the U.S. as shuttered factories in the Asian nation cause orders to back up, just as America’s busiest ports are beginning to process some of the pandemic backlog.

A recent inbound-goods lull, due in part to factory closures over the Chinese New Year, provided respite to global supply chains and gave the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach a chance to work through some of the pandemic-driven cargo overload: the number of ships waiting for a berth fell to 43 on Monday from an early-January peak of 109 and average wait times have dropped, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California.