Political unrest in Egypt is disrupting supplies of fresh produce from the north African country to the UK.
Importers have been struggling to make contact with their suppliers in Egypt as internet services have been cut and phone coverage is intermittent. The main products affected are strawberries and citrus.
“I have only had one snatched phone call with our citrus supplier in a week,” one importer told freshinfo. “He said people are very nervy and spending their days holed up in their homes and the nights protecting their property.”
Prisoners have reportedly been released by guards and told to create chaos leading to general lawlessness, violence and looting.
“Our supplier said no one is working at his packhouse, no citrus is being picked and containers are just stuck in the port,” the importer added. “In terms of citrus, a week doesn’t matter, but beyond that, the difference in the market starts to be felt. All of the infrastructure is at a standstill.”
Maersk Line and Safmarine Egyptian offices were closed this week, although the Suez Canal remained operational and Maersk said a skeleton crew was operating reefer containers.
On Wednesday, Capespan trading director Martin Dunnett told freshinfo that the importer had some oranges on the water that were loaded last week. He indicated that the juicing market is likely to be most affected as Baladi and Valencia from Egypt have an important window on the market in January and February.
Strawberry sendings have also been hit and although the airport in Cairo is open, lorry drivers are said to have been too nervous to make the drive along the Alexandria-Cairo desert highway past the Wadi Natrun prison which has reportedly set prisoners free. Truckers are anxious that they may be held up and their cargo stolen.
“Although the strawberry season is winding down, these next two weeks are still quite important and it is definitely disrupting things,” one soft-fruit importer said.
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