The Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (Asoex) is calling for an immediate resolution of the latest strike by workers at the Port of San Antonio. Speaking at a press conference in Santiago yesterday, Asoex president Ronald Bown said fresh produce export industry was already facing a “catastrophic and unsustainable” situation as a result of the walkout.
With the blueberry export season in full swing, Bown said losses could run into millions of dollars if the situation was not resolved.
“We are talking about approximately US$400m that would be lost in a couple of weeks, and therefore we believe that a solution to this problem must be found immediately,” he said.
The plight of blueberry exporters has been compounded by the imposition of stricter phytosanitary controls in imports by the USDA following the discovery of European Grapevine moth late last year.
“Beyond this weekend, we believe the situation will be barely manageable from an operational perspective because it will start to create problems in that we will not be able to keep harvesting the fruit.”
Fruit shipments in the first week of January were reported to be down 28 per cent on last year, mainly because of the strike at San Antonio. This equates to 1.6m cartons of fruit with a FOB value of around US$24m, Asoex said.
The latest strike is part of a long-running dispute between port workers and the government over working conditions.
