The Peruvian mango season is entering its final phase, with Piura almost out of fruit, Lambayeque halfway through the season, and Ancash (Casma) about to start it. "Things definitely look bad," stated Jim Ruiz, CEO and founder of AgrÃcola Nuestra Tierra.
According to the specialist, the cold weather from July to October caused a general advance of the harvests, which meant that the Peruvian mango coincided with the grape and blueberry seasons. "This led to competition for boxes, transport, and empty equipment among Peruvian products. In addition, since grape and blueberry exporters wanted to harvest as quickly as possible to avoid lack of water issues because of the drought, demand exceeded supply, and box and internal transport prices went through the roof," he stated.
Grape and blueberry exporters pay better for container transport. As a result, mango exporters had to pay higher freight rates.
"This season the shipping companies not only increased the rates by more than 30% of the freight value, but they also failed to comply with the transit times, which were 5 to 20 days late, affecting the products' quality. In addition, for the third consecutive year, Brazil continued to send large volumes to Europe, never letting up during the season. As a result, the market never took off," he concluded.
Source: agraria.pe