Australian grapes have encountered many obstacles at Chinese ports in the last few weeks. Some containers with Australian grapes have been delayed for as much as 20 days. Under regular circumstances the General Administration Customs China (GACC) is able to process every container within 1-2 days. Many of the delays occur in Shenzhen port. The different sides disagree on the exact reason for this development. One Australian fruit exporter shared their insights into the situation.
According to this importer, "China has always been one of the largest export markets for Australia. China absorbs around 40% of the Australian grape export volume. This is the height of the Australian grape export season, but the export volume in the last few weeks has only been about 50% of the export volume during the same period last year. Still, there have not been any major price fluctuations. Some of the Australian grapes are delayed at customs for a long period and by the time these grapes enter the market their product quality clearly suffered, so they are sold at a discount."
"Although relevant parties disagree on the reasons for this situation, I think that the Australian grape is just one of the victims of the 'trade war'. The issue is very sensitive, and many traders who import fruit from Australia are hesitant when they place their orders, because they do not know which fruit will be the next victim of this 'trade war'," said the Australian exporter.