Imported Fruit Shortage Hits Surat as Strait of Hormuz Crisis Deepens

Surat: After textile, chemicals, plastic and LPG, the ongoing war in West Asia between the US-Israel and Iran has created a severe shortage of imported fruits and veggies as Iran has stopped the movement of ships transporting goods from the Hormuz Strait (Gulf) area. The Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Surat, where tons of imported fruits and veggies are imported, has witnessed a drastic decrease in the goods. This has led to a situation where the scarce availability of imported fruits and veggies has increased their prices by almost 20-30% in the local market.

According to the information received, apples are imported from New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, America, Italy, France, goods from many of these countries arrive at Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva Port via the Hormuz Strait and from there are loaded in APMCs across the country, including Surat.

Similarly, dragon fruit is imported from Vietnam, but its imports have not been affected. Foreign fruits like pear fruit from South Africa, blueberries from Peru and kiwi and apples are imported from Iran. The import of all these foreign fruits has come to a complete halt, due to which the demand of foreign fruit lovers in Surat cannot be met. There have also been reports that lakhs of tons of foreign fruits, which are the perishable goods, have decayed in the foreign ships bound to India due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Sources from the APMC market in Surat say that the prices of foreign fruits in the APMC market in Surat have increased by up to 20-30% due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the prices are likely to increase as the shortage increases.

APMC sources say that along with the import of foreign fruits, fruits like bananas, tomatoes, grapes are exported from Surat, South Gujarat and all over India to Middle East countries. Due to the closure of the Hormuz Strait, local farmers and exporters are suffering huge losses.

For the last 28 days, the export of local fruits has completely stopped and the quantity for export is now being sold in the local markets. Sources are saying that bananas, grapes and mangoes, which were once sold at Rs 22 per kg, are now being sold at Rs 12. Fruits like bananas, grapes and mangoes from local markets are exported to countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Muscat, Kuwait. This quantity has also been left unsold in the local market due to lack of exports.