In the middle of summer in Chile, the cherry harvest is approaching its peak. It is an activity that has important effects on the transit of refrigerated products between South America and China. All varieties, including the sweet Bing cherries, firm Lapin cherries or the dark red Santina cherries, (grown mainly in Chile) enjoy a massive and growing popularity in China.
This season, Chile, the world's seventh largest producer of cherries, exported about 80,000 tonnes of fruit. If it hadn't been for unusual rainy weather and a shortened season, the export volume would have probably reached 100,000 tonnes.
At present, approximately 80% of all Chilean cherry exports are shipped to China. In response to this trend, Hapag-Lloyd has recently introduced a new service, which has been well received by both exporters and importers, as reported by the company.
To ensure that Chilean cherries arrive in excellent condition to the Chinese retail market, Hapag-Lloyd has drastically reduced the shipping time between Valparaiso and Hong Kong during the current harvest season by making use of the AN1 service. From the end of November to the end of December, the distance between the two points was covered in 22 days, instead of 27. "By doing this, we are meeting a strong desire of our customers," points out Esteban Valdés, Global Reefer Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd in Valparaiso.
Rotation adjustments
He added that the reduction of transit times has been possible with two adjustments: "We are allowing ships to travel much faster and we have temporarily changed the rotation."
Until the last arrival, scheduled for 19 January, just in time for the Chinese New Year, the Cherry Express will sail from Valparaiso directly to Hong Kong, instead of making its usual stop at the port of the city of Keelung, in the north of the island of Taiwan.
Thus, as soon as the ship arrives in Hong Kong, the cherries, for which a heavy surcharge is paid, are unloaded first. All other containers intended for Hong Kong will initially remain on board and will only be unloaded after the ship has completed the return trip to Keelung.
Mutual benefit
This special treatment for Chilean cherries results in mutual benefit to both exporters and Hapag-Lloyd. As Valdés points out, "exporters are happy to have a better quality and, therefore, pay a higher price for their cherries, and we benefit from a higher freight rate."
It is no surprise that there are significant growth prospects for this business. In fact, Valdés expects to see an additional boost with the newly acquired reefer containers, which were made in China and brought to South America aboard Hapag-Lloyd's new Valparaíso Express just in time for the start of the fruit season.
"Because of the sensitivity of their products, cherry exporters demand containers of the highest quality and which are as new as possible," states Valdés, who recalls: "We were totally excited about the arrival of our Valparaiso Express (in December) with more than 4,600 new 40 feet reefer containers on board."
Source: Mundo Marítimo
