Sea change suits WA agricultural exporters

In an industry first, WA’s agricultural exporters will share space in sea containers to offset the collapse in airfreight capacity fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some growers are hailing it as a lifeline that could save their business in export markets, particularly ahead of the Federal Government’s international freight assistance mechanism ending in June. A trial by Tiger’s International Solutions will start next month between Perth and Singapore, combining produce from different suppliers that require the same temperatures. Up to 10 customers will share a 20ft reefer container — a refrigerated container set at -1C — filled with chilled meat and seafood. Containers of other products, set to other temperatures, will depart soon after. Depending on feedback, the service will be rolled out to other markets including Bangkok and Hong Kong. Tiger’s general manager Jason Radford said while bigger agricultural companies regularly booked entire containers, smaller producers have not had the volumes to make sea transport viable. These smaller exporters faced major headwinds with the collapse in airfreight capacity to 15 per cent of pre-COVID levels, meaning prices had increased six-fold. While Federal Government subsidies have helped bring rates down, costs will double again when this support ends in three months. Jim Trandos, WA’s biggest corn grower with farms at Wanneroo, Gingin and Broome, said the ability to share containers provided a lifeline. Mr Trandos, who exports to Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, said airfreight rates had skyrocketed even with the government subsidies, leaving very little margin. “We have kept exporting (with higher freight rates) to maintain our relationships with customers, but the end of IFAM would make this unviable,” he said. “The ability to share containers will mean lower costs, saving our export operations.”