The union leader of fruit producers in Chile said that the profitability of some products has meant that certain crops are no longer profitable in their production, while a food exporter from Los Angeles assured that the problem is getting spaces in containers, but that it has been generated greater demand due to the scarcity of certain offers in the market that has generated low availability and delays in maritime freight in the world.

The president of the National Association of Fruit Producers of Chile (Fedefruta FG), Jorge Valenzuela, told La Tribuna newspaper that "all fruit seasons have their problems and the issue of water has been positioned within the problems for years. , labor, climate change, in general, and the price of the dollar, which are the four typical factors in a fruit season, where one or two are always on the rise and one understands them, but this season and last , ocean freight prices doubled or more than doubled, for various reasons”. Among the different causes, the union leader named "the effect of the pandemic on waiting times in port, and I believe that the pandemic has put pressure on logistics in all areas." However, regarding export fruits, Valenzuela said that "there are products that are not worth harvesting or shipping, as is the case with some apple varieties and other species such as blueberries or table grapes, the margins At this cost, it leaves out many producers, due to an absolutely disproportionate variable, because more than double the freight costs is disproportionate and it is affecting us quite seriously”.

Export profitability will still remain stable.

Valenzuela explained that "today we are paying more than double, for the same freight and with a poor service, due to the delay in entry and we understand that there have been steps to reverse this situation, but putting a premium on the fruit does not help either, because these Products have a value in international markets and that value regulates itself. The Fedefruta spokesperson said that "today it is still worth exporting cherries, some grape varieties, some citrus varieties, avocado, although they are already less profitable." Regarding Chile's capacity to absorb part of the national fruit production, Jorge Valenzuela indicated that "our internal market is small for all our fruit production, in fact it is always supplied and at very competitive prices, with very good quality, because the The quality that is demanded today is standardized, both for export and national fruit, agronomic management and the experience of our farmers make us capable of producing high-quality fruit, which is not going to change, profitability will surely imply changing of species, but the quality both for the domestic market and for export will be maintained”.

The general manager of Kugar Exports, a Los Angeles company dedicated to the export of food products, such as chestnuts, frozen and dehydrated berries and frozen, dehydrated and brine mushrooms, Werner Kulenkampf, told Diario La Tribuna that "one was used to suffer increases of 10 or 20 percent, but now we are talking about a 100 to 500 percent increase, which leads us to the fact that every time we deliver a quote we must tell the client that the price is x, and that the final price will be confirmed when the deal is closed and we have confirmation from the shipping company of the final freight to be paid, because prices have skyrocketed several times”. Kulenkampf said that "today everyone is clear about the problems that have been generated in the different types of freight, not only by sea, but the greatest difficulty is getting space in these containers, in fact, customers are willing to pay the price for that there is merchandise, but there is no availability”.

container capacity

Despite the above, the Kugar Exports spokesperson said that this situation "has generated more demand for products like the ones we make and as a result of the bonds, people have more money in their pockets, generating shortages of them." The businessman said that “this will undoubtedly have to return to its normal course, when the entire supply and logistics chain is regularized, the problem today is not that freight is more expensive but that there are no containers, because, for example, in a trip from here to the north of Europe, before we had a transit time of 30 days and today having a day of delay per port would be a grace, because if we have a day in the port of Concepción, in the south, one in the center, one in the north, one in Peru, one in Ecuador and one in Colombia, with three or four more ports in Europe, we easily arrive 10 or 15 days late”. This means, as explained by Werner Kulenkampf, "that shipping companies have to have 50 percent more equipment to have the same transportation capacity on ships, which does not exist today."