Infant milk formula exports to China are squeezing out Australian fresh produce shipments to Asia, reports rural Australian newspaper The Weekly Times.
Australian table grapes, cherries, asparagus and stonefruit exporters face losing key Asian markets as freight routes are swamped by infant formula exports, the paper said.
Victorian exporters have been trucking grapes to Sydney and Perth to get the fruit airfreighted into Asia.
Australian Horticulture Exporters Association chairman David Minnis told the paper he was “struggling to get airfreight space out of Australia because of milk powder and vitamins going into China”.
He said it was affecting all major routes into Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta.
Australian Table Grapes Association chief executive Jeff Scott said exporters predicted about 40 per cent of grapes might not be shipped to Asia by air this season if the freight supply shortage continues.“This could mean 400,000 boxes (3,600 tonnes of grapes) won’t be freighted by air,” Scott said.
Australian Federation of International Forwarders chief executive Brain Lovell said there had been a “number of issues” around securing air space because of demand from milk formula exporters.
Some powder exporters are paying a 35 per cent premium to secure airfreight space due to the insatiable demand from Chinese consumers for Australia’s infant formula, according to the report.
