The increase in the cost of sea freight to export seasonal fruits abroad has made producers of these foods have lower profitability margins than other seasons, according to the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile and the Agricultural Society of Biobío , which have been experiencing these increases for more than a year at a global level.

The president of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile, AG, Ronald Brown, explained to La Tribuna newspaper that “the rates are increasing considerably, which has us very worried, since the reality is that much more is being paid in relation to to the freight we paid last year and the year before last ”. The union spokesperson said that, "in fact, a US study indicates that 25% of the highest price that the consumer is paying corresponds to the freight issue."

This increase also has a direct impact on fruit producers and exporters throughout the country. This is due to the fact that “freight is a direct cost of the activity and one of the fundamental concerns of the sector is that the entire cost of transport and crops such as cherries cannot be passed on to the end customer; they can still absorb the increase in the value of freight up to a certain limit, but when the cost of freight represents, for example, 30% of the total cost and prices do not rise that same 30%, a very serious problem occurs ", he said. Brown. The Asoex leader added that "today the fruit trees with the greatest problems are table grapes, peaches, nectarines and kiwis, among others, which cannot bear such high price increases in freight rates."

Increased service cost

The director of the Biobío Agricultural Society (Socabio), Jaime Ugarte, said to La Tribuna newspaper that “the cost of freight has risen between 30 and 40 percent, which affects the profitability of the crops that are exported, although it depends on the specific crop; in the case of fresh fruit, it becomes more expensive to export, because it is important to go out with the crop as soon as you can ”. According to Ugarte, "export crops such as blueberries could see their profitability more affected, because cherries have higher sales prices to absorb these costs." In addition to the above, from Socabio they explained that "maritime dispatches are a bit untidy in their times, which can generate delays and in that case the quality of the fruit should not be affected as long as the cold chain is maintained, although a a delay of more than two weeks could imply a problem in the quality of the fruit, but the export technology assures us that this would not be a problem ”.

In addition, Jaime Ugarte explained that “the quality of the fruit of each producer will also affect how it withstands the transportation time involved in the freight; if the fruit is firm and presents a good quality at the time of harvest, there should be no problem, unless there is a delay of more than a week or 10 days, although more than that could affect ”.

Key to ensure profitability

The producer and exporter of cherries, Héctor Sepúlveda, said that “indeed there has been a considerable increase in the price of shipping worldwide, because if before a freight to Asia went between 7.000 and 7.500 dollars per container, today that value rose to between 11.000 and 12.000 dollars, which considerably increases the costs in the chain; this will affect the value of the final return on production ”.

The different materials for export have also increased in value, according to the farmer: boxes and pallets, which have risen due to the increase in the price of wood, are added to the list of factors that makes being a fruit exporter have become be less profitable than before.

To the above, Sepúlveda added "the increased cost of all land transportation, and the only way to solve this is by delivering the best possible quality to maintain our profitability and remain competitive."

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the farmer said that one of the risks of this situation that affects those who produce quality fruits to sell to foreign markets is that "there may be fruit that is packed and ready for export, but you must wait until that it be exported next week, either due to a lack of trucks or containers, which in fact has happened this season ”.