Carlos Parravicini, General Manager of Argenti Lemon, a company under All Lemon, the quality seal for Tucumán lemons, which involves 15 firms, talked about the damages caused by the uncontrolled rise of costs in dollars.
How is the current 2012 citrus campaign developing?
These days we are shipping 20% less than exactly a year ago. This has been caused by a delayed harvest (due to late rains in April), and also by a lack of balance between internal costs and the prices we are being paid. The problem is that those receiving our dollars are getting delayed values, which is negative for us.
The beginning of the campaign was discouraging; later it improved slightly and these days the European Union and Russia are receiving our fruit.
In what sanitary conditions is the harvested fruit?
The fruit is clean and healthy. It is really good. But the time lost due to the campaign's late start cannot be recovered. What some exporters do is saturate the market, which ends up having an impact on the prices we get.
All Lemon sets the rules for fresh fruit exports.
That's right. We work to keep the Quality Certificate given by All Lemon, which involves 15 firms. It is the best tool we have to have an advantage when competing in the worldwide market and to demonstrate the qualities of Tucumán lemons.
The gap between the price of Dollars and Euro is another of the problems you are facing.
That's right. Last year, the price of a Dollar was 1.40 Euro; nowadays it has gone down to 1.25, so we are suffering many disadvantages.
Is the economic crisis in Europe a problem for you?
The European Union and Russia, the markets where Tucumán lemons are being introduced, have their own characteristics and challenges.
Russia, for example, has a much more unified structure for lemon commercialization. They set the prices and that's what they pay us for our shipments.
The problem is that Argentina is very weak when it comes to achieving commercial advantages, for example, for the quality of our fruit, despite the fact that our country has a great worldwide influence. That weakness will be overcome when we achieve adequate revenues for our sales.
Is the European market shrinking?
Indeed, the European market has definitely shrunk. They buy very little, nobody purchases any excess fruit. Their economy is still in shock and people buy only what they need.
Have you lost competitiveness?
The whole Argentinian agricultural sector is losing competitiveness around the world, because we are under the pressure of an uncontrollable rise in costs.
The external context has a great impact, but even stronger is the impact of our own internal problems. For example, the salary increase reached an average of 25%, while the exchange difference rose only between 6% and 7% annually.
The external context has a great impact, but even stronger is the impact of our own internal problems. For example, the salary increase reached an average of 25%, while the exchange difference rose only between 6% and 7% annually.
Pessimistic or optimistic?
We are optimistic because we continue making progress and contributing to generate wealth for Tucumán. We hope that our activities will receive more protection due to our high impact on employment and work creation. We must all protect citriculture: producers, marketers, governments and institutions, etc. because of its great capacity to attract and attend the needs of its workers.
Source: Lagaceta