Royal Fumigation discusses its trade in the Delaware Valley
Royal Fumigation discusses its trade in the Delaware Valley
NEW CASTLE, DE — Anne Bookout, vice president and general counsel, and John Achzet, vice president operations, discussed a variety of fruit trade matters surrounding Royal Fumigation’s operation here in the Delaware Valley.
Of the 2014-15 Chilean winter fruit deal, Achzet said, “It was a pretty normal season. There was a good flow of cargo. It was a good average, good safe season at the port of Wilmington,” which is the focus of Royal’s fruit fumigation work.
In the Wilmington, DE, office of Royal Fumigation are Anne Bookout, vice president and general counsel, with John Achzet, vice president operations.
“As far as volumes go, it was pretty standard,” he said. “On the pest control side, there were no surprises.”
In discussing the benefits to international fruit traders of shipping their fruit to the ports of the Delaware River, Achzet noted that the region’s weather is a plus. While it is certainly cold in the winter and hot in the summer, those temperatures are not as extreme as what face many other ports. There is an average nighttime low of 32 degrees along the Delaware, which is a very good temperature if fruit should be exposed to the elements.
“It’s best for the fruit to come here,” Bookout added.
Royal’s executives noted that there has been “a paradigm shift” toward receiving refrigerated containers. “For quite a long time Chile went bulk” in palletized cargo ships to the United States. Now, Bookout said, “they are going into the global trend of reefer containers.”
Containers are especially popular if the fruit is pre-fumigated in Chile. This happens for about 20 percent of the fruit destined for the Delaware River. If containers of grapes are not fumigated in Chile, ”The fruit has to be stripped here and put in fumigation. That happens with at least some containers on every single ship,” noted Achzet.
“I think all of the ports” on the Delaware “do a great job with everyone’s cargo,” Achzet said. “They are certainly professionals who know how to handle fruit. They’ve done it for a long time.”
Bookout added that this region does not face “as much local involvement in regulatory affairs as the West Coast.” Such legislation is driving more maritime trade to the East Coast.
