BUENOS AIRES: The Commercial and Industrial Union of Mendoza (MICU) expressed its concern about the province’s fruit sector’s situation, which accounts for a significant percentage of the local production.
“Apart from the crisis in international markets, Brazil has closed its borders to imports of apples and pears,” the statement said.
Among other problems, the industry stated that “Mendoza’s fruit sector’s loss of working capital doesn’t allow them to carry out the required cultural tasks on crops which will surely affect the quality of the next harvest.”
They also said that, “the restrictions imposed by Brazil and the lack of competitiveness in other markets makes it impossible for them to sell the fruit. In response, producers must reschedule their payments, thus increasing the sector’s lack of funding.”
“Additionally, the sector is facing profitability issues due to the rising costs and inflation. It is important to clarify that the health problems that triggered the problem with Brazil were caused, in part, because the appropriate phytosanitary treatments were not carried out due to said economic problems,” said the UCIM.
Specific cases
To illustrate this situation, the entity spoke about three fruits: peach, pear and plum.
Peach industry
Prices for producers are just being defined. These prices range from $2.5 to $2.8 pesos per kilo and producers still have to wait to find out what kinds of adjustments will be made due to quality issues to know what the final price for this product will be. The value varies depending on the actual quality of the product and the criteria used by every industry, the price will reach $3 pesos with few exceptions. There are industries in this sector that are recovering the checks delivered to the producers and rescheduling payment terms.
Pear
It is one of the fruits that has been affected the most by the suspension of imports by Brazil. According to estimates, Argentina had about 400,000 boxes of pears in stock when Brazil took the decision to suspend the entry of this product. Initial losses amount to 20 pesos per box, as the fruit couldn’t be exported and much of it had to be sent to the domestic market, which was saturated with the fruit and which led to a considerable decrease in prices. To date, there are still many boxes refrigerated, which will be completely lost because this product’s regular sales season is coming to an end.
Plums for drying
The picture is not very good, as it mainly depends on the export market and the exchange rate that, as it’s well known, is not favourable. In addition, there is a real problem in foreign markets, as they are all experiencing problematic situations, so customers are cautious and feel unease about their commitments.
This has led the UCIM to state that, “it is necessary to take urgent measures to ensure that this activity, which is very important in the province, finds ways to that enable it to provide solutions to its problems, which we know, are not only limited to the provincial sphere.”
To discuss possible solutions to these and other activities related to the local economy, the UCIM “has convened the V Regional Forum of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Services, which will be held on Thursday, June 11, starting at 7 pm, at its headquarters in 1157 Patricias Mendocinas de Ciudad.”
