Egyptian turmoil hits fresh produce exports

The last several years have seen much turmoil in Egypt, and the nation's produce sector has not been immune. While events since the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 have made it difficult for exporters to move produce easily, many of the nation's traders are hopeful the country's situation will improve.

“The export sector has definitely been affected during the last two and a half years,” said Fruit Avenue's Walid Arafah. The biggest problems have come from transportation problems caused by civil unrest and safety considerations in the wake of the political situation there, explained Arafah. He reported fuel shortages, disruption of shipments at ports and in transit, and overall unrest as affecting the level of trade in Egypt.

“The situation has made it so that it takes a longer time to ship produce,” said Arafah. “Up until the end of 2011, a container could reach Rotterdam from Alexandria in about seven or nine days, but now it takes much longer.” Many shipping companies no longer make the trip from Alexandria, so traders wishing to send their products to Rotterdam now have go through Italian or Slovenian ports and then use trucks to haul their goods to the Netherlands. The result is a trip that takes twice as long and costs three times as much as it did before.

“This long trip is suitable for oranges, potatoes and dry vegetables, but it is not suitable for the majority of Egyptian fresh products with a short shelf time, like spring onions, grapes, fresh garlic or green beans,” said Arafah. “So the result has been a more expensive trip that raises prices for consumers.” Alexandria hasn't been the only port affected, said Arafah, and he reported similar situations for Damietta and Port Said. But despite the complications exporters like Fruit Avenue have had to deal with in the recent past, Arafah is optimistic about the changes he hopes are right around the corner.

“Things have started to move in a positive direction,” said Arafah. “We expect the fuel shortage problems to ease, and we expect foreign investment, which declined because of the problems we had, to return.” With lower fuel costs, he expects air shipments will decrease in cost, giving traders another option, and he expects once-defunct freight routes to return. Arafah noted that many growers didn't see the point in raising certain crops because shipping costs were increasing, but with better transportation options, he thinks the overall economy will improve, further improving the outlook of Egypt's produce sector.

“Egypt's stock market improved after last week's events,” said Arafah. “So we're already seeing signs that it will be better for Egypt's fresh produce sector.”