Red Sea crisis disrupts Indian grape campaign

Published Apr 15, 2024

Tridge summary

The Indian table grape export season is encountering significant challenges in its final stages, with the quality of the produce being affected and transit times to Europe significantly extended due to the need to reroute shipments around the Cape because of the Red Sea crisis. This has led to problems with the arrival and condition of the fruit, with transit times now reaching 40-45 days, causing disruptions for importers and necessitating promotions to manage excess fruit in the market. Despite shipping approximately 10,000 container loads to the EU, UK, Russia, the Far East, and the Middle East, and maintaining regular market demand in Europe and the UK, the shipping disruptions have highlighted the need to explore alternative markets, including the domestic Indian market. This market, while large, does not typically offer the premium prices found in export markets, but there is an increasing interest in premium quality grapes among Indian consumers.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The Indian table grape export season is entering its final stages. How has it been going? What have the volumes and quality been like this year? Azhar Tambuwala: Volumes have been similar to previous years, with China taking more than last year. It has not been a great quality year and with the long transit times, we see fruit having arrival and condition problems. Due to the Red Sea crisis, all shipping lines are routing round the Cape to Europe. They promise a transit time of 32-33 days, and we find vessels reaching their destination in 40-45 days, which has not been good for the fruit. Importers are unable to plan programmes and sales, as nothing is coming in as planned. Couple that with similar port issues with South African fruit, and it’s a bit of a nightmare now. What kind of volumes have been shipped to the Europe and the UK and how does this compare with previous years? AT: Approximately 10,000 container loads have been shipped to the EU, UK and Russia, and around 500 ...

Source: Fruitnet