This week marked the first direct air export of fresh salmon from the Chilean city of Puerto Montt, as part of a measure to create alternatives to the congested Santiago airport and cut back delivery times.
The first shipment of fresh salmon took place on 13 May and left straight from the El Tepual airport of Puerto Montt to Shanghai, China, according to a report from Radio BioBio. The development should help shave transit time from a current average of four-and-a-half days down to just two.
According to a report in Aqua.cl, the new route was the result of an initiative by Chilean salmon farmer Camanchaca. The company wanted to find a solution to logistical problems faced at Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez airport, which stem from fierce competition for air cargo space between salmon firms and other industries.
Frequency of flights and export options is expected to increase gradually. This makes the airport the third alternative for Chilean salmon farmers, which have had to use either the Santiago airport or Ezeiza in Buenos Aires for their air shipments. Puerto Montt is the largest city in Southern Chile, and is headquarters to much of the country’s seafood industry, salmon in particular.
Manuel Arriagada, the manager of Camanchaca’s salmon division, said that the China represents a market of great potential for Chilean salmon, and even though it represents only 10 percent of its sales, it is a market where significant growth is expected.
According to figures from the Chilean Salmon Association (SalmonChile), in 2018 China accounted for 6 percent of Chile’s salmon exports in terms of value of USD 292 million (EUR 260.6 million) and 7 percent of volume (43,581 metric tons).
In China, authorities and industry players are also developing more alternatives to receive air shipments, in an effort to reduce smuggling and attract new sources of trade.
