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“It really was a complete shutdown in China,” Toothill said. “There were no containers being picked up and there was no production. Things have started to look a little better now, but it’ll still take a month to get back to normal and that’s if things improve on the coronavirus front. If things go the other way, that could be a different story.”

Universal Logistics, a mid-sized freight forwarding company with offices in Toronto, saw the number of containers imported from China by its customers tumble about 60 per cent in February, compared to the same period last year, said Dave Lychek, manager of ocean and air shipping for the firm. While ships carried goods into Vancouver from China every week before the crisis, those sailings have been halved, he said.

“We almost always have more coming in from China than going out but that’s just not happening now,” he said. “We’ve dealt with strikes, things like that, but nothing that’s ever hit us like this. For companies still recovering from the rail blockades, it’s very challenging.”

For companies still recovering from the rail blockades, it's very challenging

The Port of Vancouver reported a 13 per cent decline in the volume of incoming cargo in January — figures that exclude the impact of the coronavirus. Data for February has yet to be released. The Vancouver port has logged 30 blank sailings so far this year — up from 12 to 15 at the same point in 2019, though a port spokesperson cautioned that varying ship sizes make the volume metric a more reliable gauge of activity.