The Associated Press however reported that miner BHP Billiton quoted that shipments to the port had been affected but the prices had not skyrocketed as market pundits had suggested saying the disruption would be at best "minimal".

As northern China's biggest port, Tianjin is a key area for Motorola, Toyota, Samsung, Nestle, Honeywell, Coca-Cola, Bridgestone, Lafarge, GlaxoSmithKline and Novo Nordisk, who have operations there.

Also according to news sources companies at the affected port played down the near-term economic impact for most industries. This being said, there could be long-term implications for the cost structure of China’s energy and petrochemicals industry, should the Chinese government enforce supply chain safety standards.

Sources: AP, Bloomberg