KARACHI: Kinno exports are likely to fall by 35 per cent year-on-year to 300,000 tonnes this season due to a significant increase in sea freight costs and the adverse effect of climatic changes on the fruit’s production.

Waheed Ahmed, the patron-in-chief of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association said on Tuesday the country’s kinno production is feared to drop to 1.7 million tonnes this year compared to 2.4m tonnes last year.

A few kinno factories in Sargodha were preparing for the export, he said. However, large-scale preparation to export the fruit had yet to begin, although the season was due to start from Dec 1 (today), he added.

Last year, kinno exports reached 450,000 tonnes against the target of 350,000 tonnes. However, due to the crisis of high sea freight costs this year, the exports were likely to suffer to the international markets of Russia, Canada, Ukraine, Indonesia, and the Philippines — the countries where Pakistan sent half of its kinno exports, he said.

The cost of sea freight to Russia, an important international market, was $2,500-3,000 per container during the previous season compared to the current rate of $7,000.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2021