Chile's fruit season is marked by the logistics crisis

The Office of Agricultural Studies and Policies –Odepa– reported in its April Fruit Bulletin that fr…

The Office of Agricultural Studies and Policies –Odepa– reported in its April Fruit Bulletin that fresh fruit sales in the first quarter of this year had amounted to 933,000 tons worth 2,729 million fob dollars, i.e. 3.7% more volume and 6.6% more value than in the same period of the previous year.

The main species exported in the period was the cherry with 284,750 tons and 1,488 million FOB dollars, i.e. 7% more volume and 25% more value than in the same period of the previous year. The main destination was China, as 90% of all exports were sent there.

It was followed by blueberry exports, with 89,478 tons worth 428.5 million FOB, i.e. 5% less volume and 9% less value than in the same period of the previous year. The shipments were mainly directed to the USA (47%) and the Netherlands (23%).

Table grapes ranked third with 253,300 tons and 397 million FOB dollars, i.e. 1.5% less volume and 16% less value than in the same period of the previous year. The main buyer in this period was the USA (64%).

These three species accounted for 85% of the total value of fresh fruit exports in the aforementioned period.

Fedefruta's comments
"We had no weather issues this season but the season was marked by the logistics bottlenecks in the national ports, the delays in shipments, and the increase in freight and supply costs," stated the president of Fedefruta, Jorge Valenzuela. “We've certainly never dealt with this issue at this level; freight costs have tripled. Some fruit isn't being harvested because shipping it is more expensive than leaving it in the tree.”

Nearly 4,000 containers of Chilean cherry did not reach the markets in China on time because of the delays in logistics, Valenzuela added. “We had a very good campaign before the New Year, but there have been issues after that holiday. We have a perishable product, it must arrive on time, which was very hard to achieve this season. A lot of fruit was in the sea for a long time,” he said.

“I don't want to talk about percentages, but a lot of blueberry shipments were affected. We have received information that the blueberry has been the most complicated fruit due to this logistical crisis. The loss of condition is naturally reflected in non-selling and falling prices,” he stated.