The blockade and attacks on Spanish trucks carrying agricultural products in France directly affect the sector in the Alicante province. The impossibility of transporting goods normally paralyzed the harvest of some fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits, and also slowed down the activities in the warehouses of exporting companies.where more and more stock accumulates. Concern is greatest due to delays in the delivery of orders across Europe, as well as the condition of stored goods considering perishable goods. they are at risk of spoiling and becoming unusable for marketing.
José Vicente Andreu, president of Asaja Alicante and a citrus producer who works for an exporter in the province of Valencia, emphasized that he was instructed not to continue harvesting until further notice due to the accumulation of goods in the store. In his words, “The current situation is one of complete helplessness due to the uncertainty created by not knowing what will happen.». The representative of the agricultural organization adds: “There are times when you cannot move in France due to blockades, and sometimes there are times when the roads are open and customers can accuse us of not fulfilling our commitments by not receiving the goods.
Andreu claims that all this happened in a context where the arguments that French farmers spread to justify their protests were “completely wrong”. In his words, “It is not true that we compete unfairly because we have to follow the exact same rules as them.».
The president of Asaja Alicante likewise expresses his fear of what might happen to the goods piling up in warehouses. «He notes that citrus fruits last a long time in chambers, but There are products such as artichokes and broccoli that start to spoil within four or five days.».
One of the companies focusing on the export of these products is Olé in the Oriola district of San Bartolomé, and they explain that they have not stopped working for the moment. However, the amount of products sold is decreasing, which causes delays in field work and accumulation of more stock than desired. Moreover Handling and packaging work in warehouses has been temporarily stopped.
Similar conditions exist at Fruani, a citrus exporter also located in Orihuela; Here one of its managers, Marcelino Aniorte, talks about delays in the distribution of goods, as well as the fear that things will get worse as the day goes by.
Salvador Hernández, president of the Surinver vegetable company from Pilar de la Horadada, states that transporters have reduced trips via France due to fear of incidents, and this is also reflected in shipments. «It’s not a disaster right now because it caught us out of peak season. But gradually it becomes noticeable and the product accumulates.“, mint.
This situation also affects a large number of exporters who are forced to reduce their activities in Camp d’Elx. “Normally we load five trucks a day, but today we loaded nothing, it’s not worth it,” laments Francisco Oliva, manager of the eponymous firm, one of the largest agricultural wholesalers in the region.
Stuck vehicles
The company operates its own fleet and currently has eight vehicles stranded in France in one way or another. «We unloaded four trucks to the Perpignan platform, but the goods remained there and were not distributed to the customers.; and there are also four more that go to Italy, Belgium and Germany at different points,” explains the businessman and also head of the origin determination of the Mollar pomegranate.
In this situation, Oliva chose to send packing yard operators home this Monday and Tuesday -nearly a hundred people- also started to store the products coming from the field, mainly zucchini, pepper and eggplant this season, in addition to the latest pomegranate, in rooms and warehouses.
At the moment the businessman assures that they have not had to throw away the goods yet, but It has already started receiving the first complaints from customers about the loss of quality caused by delay in such perishable products.. Oliva, who is also saddened that the orders have started to stop, says, “There are customers who received the products we sent on Friday, today (Monday), and they give us problems and reject the products.”
More than a thousand trucks cross the border from Alicante every day
Concerns about the blockade of highways in France and Belgium are also reflected in transportation companies, which continue to increase their losses as the number of trips decreases with each passing day that the protests continue. As a matter of fact, the Spanish Confederation of Goods Transport (CETM) estimated on Monday that the damage caused by this situation is around 600 euros per day per truck, reminding that more than 20,000 cargo vehicles pass through the border of the neighboring country every day. So the losses would be 12 million euros per day.
Fetrama estimates that in the case of Alicante, more than a thousand vehicles will regularly travel on routes passing through the neighboring country and will thus be affected by the protests of French farmers. “Fortunately, many trucks that were blocked on Sunday were able to move around, but the times are still well above normal, even more than double,” said Antonio Gabaldón, secretary general of this organization. he complains. This means lower loading capacity and therefore less business for companies in the sector.
Regarding the attacks suffered by Spanish transporters in the French country, Fetrama only knows of one incident involving a truck coming from the province. “They stopped him, forced the door and threw three pallets of vegetables at him,” the business spokesman said.