Perishable sector counts its R1-bn losses

The disruptive Transnet worker strike earlier this year cost the South African fruit sector dearly – all of R98 million. It’s a calculation that has recently surfaced in the public domain. This loss formed part of the R1-billion loss suffered by the agricultural sector over the strike according to the Minister of Agriculture. Stuart Symington, CEO of the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum – which represents about 80% of total fresh fruit exports – said apart from the disruptions in the ports, the strike led to the misdirected congestion port surcharge imposed on growers by the shipping lines. “The port authorities managed to avoid having to financially settle with anyone by claiming that the strike was a vis majeur (an Act of God). For a labour dispute to be regarded as an Act of God is disingenuous to say the least,” he said. According to Symington, 2010 was a better than expected year. “Things could have been worse, considering the strength of our rand. But prices on certain commodities kept us buoyant across the season, and we can consider ourselves lucky in general to have come away this year relatively unscathed. An impressive benchmark was the citrus industry almost hitting the 100 million carton mark this year. “For 2011, the prospects are for a weaker rand to bring a measure of relief to all exporters. Continued low interests will help, and even lower interest rates should chase the ‘hot money’ away that tends to distort our currency. If the world can climb gradually out of this recession next year, things should normalise.” The industry is however deeply concerned at the ever-increasing input costs – especially those associated with electricity price hikes – which is putting huge pressure on the sales price of fruit. And strategically, the availability of enough clean water is a major issue. “We rely on municipalities prioritising the clean-up of contaminated water from mining and informal settelements,” says Symington.