2024-01-09 01:24:44
Routes lengthening, freight costs rising sharply, the crisis in the Red Sea is disrupting maritime trade in raw materials. Whether it is Chinese garlic, Kenyan avocado or Indian grapes, fresh produce is particularly affected.
With the decision of shipowners to reduce or suspend, as the Danish Maersk announced at the end of last week, their traffic via the Red Sea, the Asia-Europe route has taken a hit. The alternative route, which is to circumnavigate Africa, involves ten to twenty additional days of travel, precious days for perishable raw materials. Not to mention the additional cost of fuel, caused by the change of route, which is reflected in the price of containers.
Stopovers removed
For garlic produced in China, for example, the increase is of the order of 100 dollars per tonne, for delivery to Europe. Result: orders for Chinese garlic peaked before the entry into force of the new prices announced by shipowners at the beginning of January, and have been in sharp decline since then, according to exporter Shandong Xiangsheng cited by the specialist site FreshPlaza.
This situation is also bad for Indian grapes: the harvest was abundant and could allow the country to considerably increase its exports to Europe, according to Sagar Deore of Janki Freshyard Private Limited. A goal now uncertain.
Due to their new constraints, certain shipping companies have also eliminated stopovers. Loadings of Kenyan and Tanzanian avocados are currently at a standstill, explains the importer Capexo. And the Mexican avocado, which could have relieved the market, risks being a false solution for distributors, because it is in high demand in the United States in this period which precedes the Superbowl.
Asia, a more complicated market to serve
Trade routes are also affected in the Europe-Asia direction. The crisis in the Red Sea in particular comes at a bad time for the pear season, because it is at this time when Asian orders are at their highest for the Chinese New Year. A Belgian exporter is worried about having to deal with delivery delays from now on, and hopes that the quality of the fruits of this harvest will allow them to withstand at least ten days of additional travel.
The concern is shared across the Mediterranean basin: “ It’s real chaos », summarizes the Egyptian operator Rejoice, for whom making decisions and commitments are becoming more and more complicated. Given the difficulties in exporting to Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and even Sri Lanka, several citrus exporters, he explains to FreshPlaza, have had to redirect their cargo towards Europe and the Middle East.
Also listen to Time.news of raw materials – Red Sea: the beginning of the extension of the Gaza conflict?
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