Good weather inspires hope after flat season

ALAN PEAT NO BIG waves in the SA perishable export seafreight market, with the industry sector lying fairly dormant after a poor season last year. It’s a quieter than normal off-season, with fruit, flower and vegetable exporters still shaking off the effects of a strong rand and a tight overseas market putting serious price pressures on SA perishable exports. Poor weather having hit crop volumes and quality last year. There’s little to report at the moment, according to Mike Walwyn of Seaboard Maritime. “It hasn’t been very exciting from a developmental point-of-view recently,” he said. “A very flat market.” Reefer (refrigerated) container transport has certainly been making inroads into volumes travelling by conventional breakbulk vessels, but it’s still been a quiet part of a quiet market. However, Walwyn feels that there’s a distinctly good outlook for the new summer season. “The weather has been good,” he told FTW, “and so we can expect good seafreight export volumes and good quality.” The citrus season – now drawing to its close – has been a good omen, he added. “It has done very well in the last couple of months of the season, and volumes definitely took an upturn there.” The deciduous season is then due to kick-off about October/November, and Walwyn feels that the indications are good. But, although space is no problem at the moment, he also feels that congestion at the ports could be a bugbear again once the big export volumes hit the roads. PPECB results mirror industry’s declining volumes REFLECTING THE fruit industry’s problems over the last two years, the Perishable Products Export Control Board posted a R5.8m deficit for the financial year 2005/6. “There’s been a marked decline in export volumes over the last two years resulting in a loss of income compared to budget of about R10m,” chairman Anton du Preez told a board meeting earlier this year. “PPECB’s budget, as a statutory organisation, has to break even in any given financial year and the board approved that the shortfall for the last two years be funded from reserve funds and not by means of steep increases in levies for the industries,” he said. He predicts that unless the current scenario of declining volumes changes drastically, a potential net loss to the organisation of around R4.8m is inevitable. “Reserve funds are quickly declining, which poses serious risks for the sustainability of the essential services delivered by the PPECB, he said. A special meeting of the executive committee has been scheduled for the end of August to review the financial position of the organisation.