Higher freight charges cause vegetable exports to fall

---

Naim-Ul-Karim
The country's vegetable exports in the first month of the current fiscal fell sharply because of mainly higher freight charges, exporters said on Thursday.
They said freight charges, which saw an increase of 35-50 per cent in the past year, have made Bangladeshi vegetable items costlier eroding the country's competitiveness in the international market.
According to statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the country's vegetable exports in July went down by 46.04 per cent over the same period of the last fiscal.
The EPB data shows Bangladesh fetched $5.66 million by exporting the perishable items in July, which was $10.49 million in the same period of 2007 year.
"Our competitiveness has corroded due mainly to the soaring freight charges since June," SM Jahangir Hossain, president of Bangladesh Fruits Vegetables & Allied Products Exporters' Association (BFVAPEA) said, told the FE on Thursday.
In June last, the interim government increased prices of all petroleum products in the country by 33 per cent to 67 per cent following hefty rise in crude oils in the global market.
BRAC, only NGO to export vegetables, said inadequate cargo services to important destinations, frequent changes in flight schedules and soaring freight charges have caused the drastic fall in exports.
M A Salequ, chief of vegetable export division of BRAC, said: "We are losing fast our competitiveness in the global markets due to soaring freight charges."
BFVAPEA president said freight charges, which increased by around 35-50 per cent in the past year, will continue to force local exporters to scale back shipments in the near future.
According to exporters, about 40 categories of goods are exported through air routes with bitter gourd, bean, green chilli, potato, papaya, jackfruit and mango dominating the overall basket.
Non-resident Bangladeshis as well as expatriate workers, living in high numbers in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom, are the main consumers of local agri-products. Bangladesh's products are also being exported to Italy, Germany, France, Kuwait and Qatar.
Exporters said India is the country's main competitor. If Bangladesh is to compete with products of the neighbour, the government should provide subsidy in freight charges to boost exports.
At present, exporters get 20 per cent cash incentive based on free on board value. But exporters said it is insignificant, as they have to pay 75 per cent of their earnings as freight charges.
Apart from this, exporters said Bangladesh is facing difficulties in exporting vegetables and fruits to the South East Asian nations, including China, due to lack of adequate air cargo space in Biman, the national flag carrier.
An association member said local exporters could export lemon, banana, papaya and other fruits in large volumes to Yunnan, given the exorbitantly high prices of these fruits in the Chinese province.
"We can easily grab a sizeable Chinese market. It's an untapped opportunity as China imports these fruits from Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia," he said.