Indian mangoes have high demand internationally and the European markets eagerly await its arrival
If there is one thing that the Indian Diaspora misses the most, it is the mango. The king of fruits is loved and cherished by all Indians and those living abroad yearn for it.
This year, however, the Indian Diaspora will be a shade disappointed. Reason: Mangoes are facing huge air freight capacity constraints. As it is, the supply-demand environment is skewed and this has further slashed the shipment volumes. Indian mangoes have high demand internationally and the European markets eagerly await its arrival.
A report in the Loadstar quoted Mohnish Arora, GM of perishable cargo at the Mumbai-based air freight company Jet Freight Logistics (JFL), saying: “I believe cargo capacity will remain under great pressure. As the air bubble agreements, which had been in force, were removed last month, all P2C [passenger-to-cargo] flights have been reinstated as passenger flights.”
Ukraine war is another factor behind raise in the prices of mangoes. War has sent fuel prices up, that in turn has hiked carrier costs. Obviously, cargo owners would have to bear the brunt of raised costs
According to Arora, the fleet reconfigurations would reduce the available air cargo capacity by about 50 per cent, even though a few carriers have restored passenger flights to pre-Covid schedule levels. JFL is ready to handle approximately 500 tons of mango shipments a week this year, according to Arora.
In fact, Arora does not believe that the coming weeks will bring any relief from high freight rates for fruit shippers. To top it all, a number of airlines are still awaiting to get their full workforce – reduced during Covid – back.
Another factor that will raise the prices of mangoes is the current war in Ukraine that has sent fuel prices up, that in turn has hiked carrier costs. Obviously, cargo owners would have to bear the brunt of raised costs.
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