Container ships have been turning away from Peru’s port of Callao due to dockworker strikes, raising concerns for the country’s fresh produce exporters, reported website noticiasnorte.com.

Peruvian Exporters Association (ADEX) president José Luis Silva Martinot said the country’s businesses could not afford to lose customers, leaving some with no option but to send by air freight at three times the cost of the port tariff.

“Our partners are already reporting calls from their clients asking if their orders will arrive,” he was quoted as saying.

Silva Martinot told the website that fresh produce exporters involved in fruit, flower and other horticultural industries were worried their ‘cold chain’ could be hampered by the delay.

Website connuestroperu.com reported Martinot condemned acts of violence in the port on Feb. 2, which came as a result of the protests.

The strikes delays come after reports that Peru’s trade with the U.S. for the first months of 2010 was 18% higher than the same period in 2009.

Related story: https://www.freshfruitportal.com/2011/02/04/peru%E2%80%99s-exports-to-u-s-approaching-pre-economic-crisis-levels/

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com