Around 90 per cent of country’s fruit exports to Middle East by sea have been blocked by the crisis, forcing suppliers to divert cargo
South African fruit exporters continue to face major disruption in the Middle East as a result of the Iran conflict, with around 90 per cent of shipments to the region by sea disrupted, according to a video report on the Al Jazeera website.
Mariette Kotze of industry association Hortgro told the broadcaster that the situation was proving difficult to overcome, with shipments already on the water blocked from entering the Persian Gulf and reaching their normal destination Jebel Ali in UAE.
“What we’re trying to do is we’ve diverted some of the fruit via India, some of it via Oman, some of it via Sri Lanka,” she explained. “But it’s chaotic basically at the moment.”
Willem Joubert of Paarl-based Novo Fruit Packers, a major source of apples and pears, confirmed that exporters were “struggling” to reach certain markets.
“The impact is cost at the moment,” he said. “And market access seems to be more difficult.”
