The number of container ships at anchor or drifting at one of the busiest ports in China has jumped to the highest level since August, indicating supply chain disruptions will continue into the holiday season. Right now is the critical period where US importers build inventory for Christmas shopping. If they fail to do so, expect shortages of popular consumer goods. 

China's Yantian port in Shenzhen has had its fair share of issues this past summer, primarily due to a COVID outbreak forcing one of its terminals to shutter operations. Since then, the terminal has reopened.

But now, the port has ceased container handling operations after the Chinese weather authorities issued cyclone alerts. Bloomberg's vessel tracking data shows at least 67 ships are currently queued outside Yantian, the highest since 26 August.