On Friday, 12 bulk carriers with corn, wheat, soybeans and sunflower meal left Ukrainian ports, the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) reports.
“On January 13, twelve vessels left Ukrainian ports, they are transporting a total of 346,356 tonnes of grain and other food within the framework of the Black Sea grain initiative,” the report says.
Two bulk carriers Cuma (70,799 tonnes of corn) and Georgia T (61,252 tonnes of sunflower meal) are heading to China, two vessels Solar (37,205 tonnes of wheat) and Bosphorus King (25,000 tonnes of corn) are heading to Italy. Two more bulk carriers Rio (8,500 tonnes of wheat) and Umit G (4,300 tonnes of wheat) headed for Greece.
The vessel Papua will deliver 29,300 tonnes of soybeans to the Netherlands, the vessel Cape Scott – 28,000 tonnes of corn to Portugal, the vessel New Faith – 26,500 tonnes of corn to Spain.
In addition, two vessels Garnet (33,000 tonnes of corn) and Muzaffer Ana (11,500 tonnes of soybeans) went to Turkey. Lady Hatice will ship 11,000 tonnes of sunflower meal to Morocco.
Five vessels are also being sent to the ports of Ukraine, which passed through the humanitarian corridor on Friday.
The JCC reported that “79 applications for participation in the initiative were submitted.” Ten vessels are awaiting permission to enter the ports of Ukraine, 14 loaded vessels are awaiting departure to their destinations.
“As of January 13, the total tonnage of grain and other agricultural products exported from three Ukrainian ports is 17.3 million tonnes. A total of 1,286 vessels have been allowed to move at the moment: 639 to arrive at Ukrainian ports and 647 to exit them,” the JCC summed up.
Chinese authorities on Sunday began lifting border crossing restrictions in China that have been in place since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomberg reported.
So, starting Jan. 8, individuals arriving in China will no longer need to go into quarantine after arriving in the country. However, 48 hours before arrival they will be required to obtain a negative test result for COVID-19 and present it to the PRC.
On Sunday, Chinese authorities also began issuing ordinary visas and temporary residence permits to foreigners. At the same time, residents of mainland China can again obtain passports and tourist visas.
However, according to the Associated Press, only a very limited resumption of China’s international air traffic can be expected for the time being.
Also on Sunday, authorities resumed passenger service on land and sea routes between the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong special administrative region. Travelers, however, will need negative COVID-19 tests 48 hours before travel. The government has also imposed restrictions on the daily number of people who can travel between mainland China and Hong Kong.
The lifting of many travel restrictions came into effect after China began its annual 40-day travel period the previous day to coincide with the Lunar New Year, which this time falls on January 22, 2023. At this time, China is experiencing the world’s largest annual migration of its population, as they disperse to their homelands or travel around the country with relatives.
Since 2020, China has had a “zero tolerance” policy for COVID-19, which has meant applying measures such as lockdowns and mandatory quarantine for those who come into contact with infected people. At the same time, the Chinese economy was showing the lowest growth rate in almost fifty years. But in December, Chinese authorities lifted a series of restrictions adopted to contain the spread of the virus, causing a spike in illnesses and deaths.
The United States, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia, Germany and Sweden announced some restrictive measures against travelers from China amid the COVID-19 wave. In particular, they decided to require all persons arriving from the PRC to present a negative test for COVID-19.
According to Worldometers, a portal that specializes in statistics on major world events, China has diagnosed approximately 482,000 cases of the coronavirus and 5,200 deaths from the effects of infection throughout the pandemic.
Three dry cargo vessels with corn and sunflower meal departed from Ukrainian ports on Wednesday, the Joint Coordinating Centre (JCC) has reported.
“On January 4, three ships left Ukrainian ports, carrying a total of 197,851 tonnes of grain and other food under the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the JCC said.
Three bulk carriers – Presinge (70,514 tonnes of corn), Shen Yu 79 (64,667 tonnes of corn) and Mona KH (44,670 tonnes of corn and 18,000 sunflower meal) – are heading to China.
Seventy applications to join the Black Sea Grain Initiative have been submitted, the center said.
In addition, six ships are awaiting permission to enter the Ukrainian ports, 26 loaded dry cargo ships are waiting to sail to their destinations.
“As of January 4, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three Ukrainian ports is 16,630,516 tonnes. A total of 1,239 voyages (616 inbound and 616 outbound) have been enabled so far,” the JCC said.
China will soften restrictive measures previously imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus in early January, the South China Morning Post reported.
China’s State Health Commission has decided to downgrade the threat of COVID 19 from the highest, “A,” to “B.” The “A” category was introduced back in 2020.
As part of this decision, from January 8, 2023, those arriving in China will not have to be sent to mandatory quarantine: this measure will remain in force only for those who have COVID 19.
At the same time, a negative test for coronavirus will be required to enter the territory of the PRC, notes Bloomberg.
In addition, according to the news agency EFE, China will also weaken control over its territory for people with coronavirus. In particular, the authorities will abandon the practice of tracking with whom a sick person had contact. They will also do away with the practice of determining how high the risk of infection is in a particular area.
Three dry cargo ships carrying corn and sunflower seeds left Ukrainian ports on Friday, the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) reported.
“Three ships left Ukrainian ports on December 2, carrying a total of 106,500 tons of grain and other agricultural products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the report said.
Vessel Aspasia Luck is transporting 63 thousand tons of corn to China, Sea Inspiration is delivering 26.5 thousand tons of corn to Italy. Lady Perla dry-cargo carrier will carry 17 thousand tons of sunflower seeds to Bulgaria.
Three vessels, which passed through the sea humanitarian corridor on December 2, are also on their way to Ukrainian ports.
“As of December 2, the total tonnage of grain and other agricultural products exported from the three Ukrainian ports is 12,713,836 tons. A total of 1,031 vessels have been allowed to move so far: 515 to arrive at Ukrainian ports and 516 to leave them,” the report said.
In China, more than 31 thousand cases of infection with the coronavirus COVID-19 were detected per day, the authorities continue to tighten measures to combat the disease, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
Over the past 24 hours, 31,444 cases of coronavirus have been detected in the country – the highest number of infections in a day since the virus was discovered in Wuhan at the end of 2019.
In the center of Henan province, the city of Zhengzhou, authorities announced tightening measures to combat the virus. In eight districts of the city, starting Thursday, for five days, people will be able to leave their homes only to buy food or receive medical care. About 6.6 million people live in these areas. The entire city will be tested daily for the virus.
In Beijing, a hospital for patients with COVID-19 opened in the exhibition center. It was also denied access to Peking University of International Studies after a case of the virus was identified there. Some shopping malls and office buildings were closed in the city.
On Monday, the city of Guangzhou imposed a lockdown on the Baiyun District, which has a population of about 3.7 million, and asked residents in parts of Shijiazhuang City not to leave their homes while mass tests for the virus were carried out in the city. About 11 million people live in Shijiazhuang.
China has a “zero tolerance” policy for COVID-19. This means that in order to limit the spread of the virus, measures such as lockdowns and mandatory quarantine for those who have come into contact with infected people are being implemented. At the same time, earlier in November, the country’s authorities announced some easing of measures, in particular, a reduction in the period of self-isolation for those arriving in the country.
