Fruit shipments from the port of Valparaíso fell by 95% as a result of the port strike. Shipments between November 16, when the stoppage began, and December 17 decreased to only 3,006 tons. In the same month of 2017, the port shipped 59,883 tons of fruit, i.e. 54% of the fruit shipped nationwide.
This is according to information that was published today in El Mercurio, based on data provided by Juan Carlos Sepulveda, the manager of the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile (Fedefruta).
Meanwhile, there has been an increase in fruit shipments at the port of San Antonio, which had already displaced Valparaíso as a cruise ship home port as a result of previous port conflicts.
In the same period of last year San Antonio shipped 7,380 tons of fruit, but now, thanks to the strike in Valparaiso, that figure has grown by almost 10 times and stands at 70,368 tons, which accounts for 70% of the country's fruit shipments.
Exporters, who were initially surprised by the strike, say that the most affected party in all of this is Valparaiso, which last season lost US $8.4 million because it didn't attend to 89 thousand cruise passengers due other port stoppages.
However, the president of the Association of Fruit Exporters, Ronald Bown, said that the blueberry and cherry export seasons were about to peak, which means the impact on the sector would be greater. Importers are uncertain about whether they will receive the fruit on time, and that uncertainty is growing. There is a risks that they'll decide to change supplier country, he said.
