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Orchid farmers get angry over higher airfreight expenses

Orchid farmers slammed airfreight companies yesterday for taking advantage of the port lockout on the US West Coast to double their rates, saying that the practice has cost them NT$210 million (US$6 million) over the past two months.

"We can't afford the airfreight costs which are causing us to operate at a loss," Tsang-yu Lee (李蒼裕), secretary-general of Taiwan Orchid Growers Associations (蘭花產銷發展協會) said yesterday during a press conference.

Lee led about 30 orchid growers to the legislature to protest against airfreight costs and said that it is hard to understand why the airlines kept raising the prices even after the strike moved into a cooling off period.

"Airfreight costs haves killed the profits of Taiwan's orchid growers, who export one-third of their annual production of 30 million orchid plants to the US," he said.

The orchard farmers yesterday demanded the government intervene on the price issue and requested they be compensated for their losses.

Representatives from local airlines admitted yesterday that they have been boosting airfreight prices to counter a jump in demand since the shippers' association in the US closed down 29 West Coast ports on Sept. 27.

An official from China Airlines (中華航空) said that it adjusted the airfreight rate twice in October from NT$85 per kilogram to the current rate of NT$130 per kilogram.

EVA Airlines (長榮航空) also said that it increased the rate twice from NT$92 per kilogram in early September to NT$130 per kilogram in November.

Toscanini Cheng (鄭瑞獻), director of American flight from EVA Airlines, said yesterday that the operation cost of the airlines also increased with the scheduling of additional flights to meet demand.

Both local airlines, however, claimed that airfreight prices are in line with market prices.

Local airlines are also expecting that the rate will return to normal if the strike can be settled during negotiations between shippers and unions scheduled to restart for Dec. 20.

The Council of Agriculture yesterday said it was willing to play a role in mediating between the airlines and the farmers, adding that any subsidies privided to orchid farmers would violate WTO rules.
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