The Red Sea issues have resulted in a Portuguese apple exporter switching its focus to the local market to sell the remaining stock, Joao Juma, export manager for Portuguese apple exporter United Growers, says: “We had some quantities reserved to send to our regular customers in the Middle East, but due to the current situation, shipping lines don´t guarantee transit times and the estimations are around 45 days from Portugal. This in itself is a risk that unfortunately doesn’t get compensated as the price of transit multiplied by about three times. Instead of taking the risk and sending our apples towards the Red Sea, we will focus on selling our stocks on the local market. We just hope that the situation in the Red Sea changes before our next season starts, at the end of August.”
Juma emphasizes that a large portion of their apples were imported by a different market, which didn’t require the Red Sea route. “Luckily, much of our volume was sent to Latin America previously and therefore the issue in the Red Sea didn´t compromise our season completely. We didn’t have a large production and due to the heat wave while harvesting, selling early in the season at good prices was a good decision and solution. It also allowed us to save on energy costs, as we didn't have to use all of our storage capacity until late in the season.”
As Latin America have stopped their orders and the Middle East is still out of reach for the export of apples, the apples are now being sold on the Portuguese local market. According to Juma, they’re still making a profit off of them: “Right now, the volumes we have left will be sold on the domestic market. This is only about 400 tons of apples. We’re in luck though, as the availability of Galas isn’t great in Portugal, meaning we’ll still get okay prices to cover the costs and even have some profit.”
Overall, the Red Sea situation has resulted in the Portuguese apple season being cut short by several months. “Normally, our export season goes on until March or April, depending on the pressure of the apples. The current situation has shortened our season between three to five months compared to a usual year,” Juma concludes.
For more information:
Joao Juma
United Growers
Tel: +351 910 645 600
Email: [email protected]
www.portugalapples.com