During the current export season of perishable products from Guatemala to European markets, a series of problems have been evident in the logistics chain, which cause these goods to remain shorter on the shelves of their destination markets.
On the first day of the 21st edition of the Agritrade – agricultural fair – carried out by the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) in Antigua Guatemala, one of the topics that was addressed with greatest concern was that of agricultural logistics, which includes the production area, collection, processing and transportation locations to port terminals.
In principle, businessmen in the sector warned that, if they do not carry out improvements or changes in the ports, in the next five years there will be serious consequences in terms of the cargo mobilization capacity and the saturation of the logistics network.
Realities
Luis Fernando Teo, president of Agritrade, and Mario Yarzebski, marketing manager of the Palo Blanco agro-exporter, agreed on the problems that are impacting exporters of perishable or fresh products.
The first is that Guatemala is competitive in that shipping companies provide good service, but port inefficiency causes the lack of availability of shipping services from both the Pacific and the Atlantic.
This is influenced by the insufficient draft in the ports, which prevents the docking of large ships that would allow a direct route from Guatemala to Europe.
This implies, according to Yarzebski, that exporters of perishables “forcedly” have to transship in intermediate ports such as the Dominican Republic, Colombia or Jamaica, and that is an impact detected this season, especially due to the drought crisis that affects the Panama Canal.
The managers explained that these movements and the handling of containers imply delays that on average range from 12 to 20 days additional to the normal time, so the fruit arrives at its destination with undeserved quality, even if a controlled atmosphere is used.
Among the most affected products at this time are avocado, banana, mango, snow peas, and other vegetables, which are shipped by sea.
On the other hand, they clarified that logistics in Guatemala is more expensive compared to the other competitors in the region, which are Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru and Ecuador, and logistics inefficiency is considered multimodal, since, for example, there are many shortcomings in the roads, which force heavy transport to travel at an average of 21 kilometers per hour.
Daniel Guillén, commercial manager of refrigerated cargo for Central America, Colombia and the Caribbean of the Maersk firm, explained that one of the problems in perishables is that there are times when difficulties can be controlled and others when they cannot.
In this regard, he said that not all market disruptions, climate change and fruit production can be controlled, but that we must always be ahead to look for options so that they do not cut off the supply chain.
“The challenge of the new government is to address the port crisis, because if the capacities of the ports are not improved in five years, Guatemala might remain isolated and will continue to depend on intermediate cargo handling,” the businessmen warned.
business meeting
In the 21st edition of Agritrade, it is expected to have more than 3,500 participants during the three days of the event, in addition to the fact that on the exhibition floor there are more than 150 stands from 130 participating companies.
One hundred international buyers who come from the United States, Central America, Asia and Europe have confirmed their attendance at the event, so more than two thousand business conference appointments have already been scheduled.
Register here for the virtual masterclass for digital subscribers “Low investment franchises in Guatemala: Where to start?” this Thursday, March 21 at 6 p.m.
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