Chinese laboratory tests of the cherries from the 20 inspected containers, from the long-delayed Maersk Saltoro, have been returned and are said to confirm the most negative news, "all the fruit must be re-exported or destroyed in China." The potential cost of the over 1,300 containers weighing around 25,000 tons can be as high as $25 million according to initial industry expert estimates. Insurance claims are said to only be finalised many months from now given the sheer size and volume of the claims involved.
Chinese inspections of 100% of the load resumed yesterday with a further 300 to 600 containers offloaded according to a source on the ground in China. "Customs has reconfirmed that they will inspect the 100% of the loads from their side. On Monday, 24 February the download of the loads had been reactivated, and 300 more containers were inspected. They have confirmed that none of the containers will enter the Chinese market and will be rejected by customs. There are two possibilities for the next step after customs inspection - destruction or re-export. So far there are no inspected containers that have been through the next step of the process."
The industry insider noted, that other fruit from Chile continues to move through the export process, the focus should not be solely on this one shipment. "It's very important to move forward, the fruit industry still goes ahead and we shouldn't focus only on this topic. Chile exports several fruit species to the world and we need to turn the page in a good way and as fast as possible and keep it up."
Speculation is rife at the moment as further official communication from Chinese authorities, as well as Frutas de Chile, is still eagerly awaited by the industry and other role players.