Chilean Cherry Industry Facing Shipping Challenges to China
17 November 2021
Hamburg Süd confirmed they will run only two fast Cherry Express Vessels for the 2021/22 cherry season. These two vessels, scheduled to depart Chile in week 51 (20-26 Dec) and week 52 (27 Dec to 02 Jan), will arrive Hong Kong in 22-23 days destined for Chinese New Year market.
It is estimated that the two vessels will carry over 1100 containers. Compared to the last season’s seven vessels, this season’s decrease reflects the challenges of global shipping and shortage of Reefer containers. We are advised that the cost of bringing a refrigerated container Chile to China has grown to USD 10,000.
On the Airfreight side it was reported that China Eastern will be flying one freight charter plane per day of cherries (about 100 tons) from 5 November to 22 December. Costs of air freight are also up significantly with one importer saying they were paying USD7/Kg for airfreight from Chile.
Another importer suggested that cherry shipments into China will still be strong - they could decline 10% this year because of shipping challenges.
Source: Asia Fruit and Sino Access