Fresh produce exporters getting the pip with shippers

New Zealand fresh produce exporters are getting the pip with some shipping companies as they get bumped on booked container space.

In the recent past, if container space got postponed at the last moment, there would often be another container ship in a couple of days said Catherine Beard, executive director of Export New Zealand, a division of Business N.Z.

"Now they are sometimes experiencing delays of a month to six weeks to get their products away," she said.

There are different regional pressure points, particularly for apples, onions and squash out of the Ports of Napier, Lyttelton and Otago in particular Beard said, though tight container space is often a feature at this time of year.

Part of the problem is that the global recession has revealed a global shipping oversupply, with the recession encouraging shippers to rationalise their operations and remove capacity to boost profitability.

"Some shipping companies are also slow steaming to reduce cost," Beard said. "This results in longer delivery times for exports, has shelf life implications and could require greater inventory levels."

Exporters of higher value produce who use refrigerated containers or who are regular customers get shipping priority over lower value cargoes and sporadic exporters.

There is no easy answer as New Zealand is a small player in the international scheme of things and the shipping rationalisation has been a global phenomenon.

Exporters require a shipping strategy as part of their total business strategy, she said, and occasional exporters might need to team up with regular or higher value exporters to obtain the benefit of stronger contractural relationships.

Businesswire.co.nz

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