The Port of Rotterdam's largest handling, freight forwarding and distribution company for perishable products, Seabrex, a key player in the European fresh fruit and vegetable import business, has filed for bankruptcy.
In a statement, parent company Belgian New Fruit Wharf (BNFW) said a number of factors had contributed to the decision, including the general economic slump, a decrease in volumes through its facilities and greater competition from rival handlers.
BNFW acquired the company last summer from Ebrex Group, adding Rotterdam to its exisiting operations at the Port of Hamburg in Germany and the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge.
However, financial problems at Ebrex are understood to have persisted, leaving Seabrex unable to cope with a fall in the volume of fruit handled.
'Shortly after the acquisition of shares in Seabrex last year, the unexpected bankruptcy of Ebrex Group – and therefore Seabrex – hit the company as its separation had not yet been fully completed,' a spokesperson for BNFW said.
Seabrex is also said to have been affected by a 'substantial decrease' in the volume of fresh produce arriving in Rotterdam during the past 12 months, a situation resulting mainly from the economic downturn and the recent emergence of competing handlers further inland in the Benelux region.
The shortfall in handled volumes was also exacerbated by the recent earthquake in Chile, as well as drought and floods in South Africa and the Canary Islands, BNFW added.
On top of these operational problems, the planned relocation of Seabrex to a major new coldstorage development in the Port of Rotterdam's Waalhaven area, to the south of its current site at Merwehaven, had previously been put on hold.
The project, intially pencilled in for completion some time after 2013, had promised to improve Seabrex's position and generate new business.
'In the circumstances, to continue operating with its current cost structure in the current location is not justified,' BNFW said.
