This morning, representatives of the country's agricultural associations, as well as leaders of small agricultural producers, met with the Minister (s) of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, to express their concern about the impact that the sector is experiencing as a result of the truckers' strike that has lasted for five days.
The president of the National Agricultural Society (SNA), Cristián Allendes; the president of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (ASOEX), Iván Marambio, and the manager of the same entity Miguel Canala-Echeverría, as well as the president of Fedefruta, Jorge Valenzuela; the president of Chile Carnes, Juan Carlos Domínguez; the president of Chilealimentos, Gonzalo Bachelet, as well as the leader Orlando Contreras of Mucech, arrived at La Moneda.
«All the food unions have come to talk to the minister to raise all the concerns we are having today. The truckers' strike is seriously affecting everything related to the production and delivery of food in Chile and for exports. November is the month when exports of fruits such as blueberries, cherries and others begin. We must move 5 thousand containers weekly and that is not happening today,» Cristian Allendes stressed.
For his part, the president of ASOEX, Iván Marambio, pointed out: «We believe that it was a very positive meeting, as we were able to express our concerns and at the same time learn about the actions that are being considered by the Government, where we saw a willingness to reach solutions that will allow us to end the conflict, unblocking roads and ports. As ASOEX we explained the critical situation that we are experiencing in order to carry out our fruit exports normally, especially considering that we are in the middle of the cherry, blueberry and stone fruit season; fruits that have been affected by delays in reaching ports or that have not been able to be loaded onto ships due to blockages at ports. We are also having problems with the supply of containers to transport the fruit, since the storage sites are blocked, which, at this moment, is an urgent issue for our industry. «.
He added: «We call on the different organizations that represent transporters to seek agreements with the authorities to end this mobilization that is causing so much damage, affecting our export activity and the country's consumers, which is only worsening the economic difficulties for everyone in our sector. The meat packing plants are full, which would imply stopping the fruit harvesting and packaging processes, with the consequent loss of fruit, affecting more than 200 thousand workers who are working in the cherry harvesting and packaging activities.»
The leader of the fruit exporters also stated that «This situation is ruining the work carried out with the entire logistics chain of the country, both in the public and private sectors, in order to untie knots and speed up the export process, where truck drivers are an important link, and whom we consider our partners. Every day that passes without agreements is a day in which the fruit loses condition and quality. We are playing with the cherry export season, Chile's letter of introduction in China, and the main Chilean fruit for export, in terms of value. We have one month to be able to carry out the shipments and thus arrive with the maximum fruit for the Chinese New Year on January 22, 2023. The loss could be considerable if we consider that the departure of approximately 5 thousand containers of cherries per week is calculated, to which would be added a further 10% with other fruits.«, he added.
The president of ASOEX added that the following ships are scheduled to depart this week and next week: Wan Hai 322 (AS2 - WS6) on Friday, November 25; Navigare Collector (AN1 - INCA) on November 28, the OOCL Ho Chi Minh City (WSA) ship on December 1, the Loceng (AS2 - WS6) ship on December 2, and the Ya Zhou (WSA 3) ship on December 4.
Finally, Orlando Contreras, president of the Unitary Peasant and Ethnic Movement of Chile (Mucech) said: "Although we stand in solidarity with the truck drivers regarding their right to demonstrate and demand answers to their demands, we also believe that it is necessary to establish a dialogue that allows for a solution that satisfies both parties. This mobilization is also having costs for the farmers, for the rural world, who cannot bring their products to sell them, affecting in the same way the thousands of workers who are collaborating in the harvesting, packaging and shipping processes," he pointed out.
