The Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker, confirmed that the number of containers stranded in China due to the outbreak of coronavirus had increased to 2,300. The Minister made this statement two weeks after the National Agriculture Society (SNA) reported that there were no less than 1,500 containers, primarily with cherries, stranded in Chinese ports. The head of Agriculture explained that this increase in retained containers was due to the fact that the holidays after the Chinese New Year were prolonged for a week.
He also acknowledged that the Chinese market has been quite slow. However, he said, consumption has increased during the last week. "The market went from opening 200 containers a day to 100-120 nowadays," he said.
Regarding the measures taken by the Government of China and the difficulty of selling in person, the secretary of state said that "e-commerce sales have increased incredibly between 40% and 50%."
He also referred to the possibility of taking other measures regarding the fruits that still have to be harvested during the season, such as leaving them longer in the country. "The species that will be harvested such as kiwi, apple or pear, are stored in cold storage for a long time, they are not as perishable as table grapes or cherries, so they can be stored for 8.9 or 10 months in Chile," he said.
The Minister of Agriculture declined to talk about losses, highlighting that thanks to the cold chain the fruit has not been affected.
Finally, he recommended that the fruit that still remains in Chile be oriented towards other more suitable markets "to overcome the coronavirus crisis."
Source: mundomaritimo.cl / cnnchile.com