The global fruit and vegetable trade continues to suffer multimillion-dollar losses due to Houthi terror

EastFruit analysts note with regret that the global fruit and vegetable trade has not found a solution to the problem of transporting goods through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal due to ongoing terrorist attacks on civilian ships by the Yemeni Houthis.

The most significant blow will come to trade between the countries of Europe and North Africa with Asia and a number of countries in the Middle East. In particular, Egypt is currently experiencing pressure on the prices of citrus fruits and a number of other fruits and vegetables that have traditionally been exported to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, as well as to Asian countries. We wrote about this in more detail earlier in the material “Egypt and Asia in the Orange Crisis.”

The cost of logistics and transfer times have also increased significantly when exporting apples from Europe, including Ukraine and Moldova, to the countries of the Middle East, which are the main market for apples for these countries. Suppliers of exotic fruits and vegetables from Asia and East African countries, as well as suppliers of table grapes from India to Europe, also have serious problems.

There are also problems for suppliers from Turkey, which is one of the largest trading hubs for fruits and vegetables in the region. The main flows of Turkish fruit and vegetable products towards Asia passed through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

Read also: Apple exports from the EU, Ukraine, Moldova, and Turkey stopped due to Houthi terror in the Red Sea

It is clear that the threat to civil vessels will not be resolved in the near future, which means that the cost of insurance will remain prohibitively high, and most companies will avoid this transport route. Accordingly, for the remainder of the season, suppliers will have to reshape marketing strategies, and importers from Asia and the UAE will have to look for alternative suppliers in other countries.