Sebastián Valdés Lutz, Chilean, director of companies, will be one of the speakers at the 10th. EXPO Prunes, organized by Chileprunes, anticipating what is coming for logistics at an international and Chilean level.
“The pandemic taught us how fragile our supply chain is, and it recorded to us that our product offer is not such until we manage to put it on the ‘gondola’ of a supermarket, or in the shopping cart of an electronic store. Logistics must not be taken for granted and you must have a strategic position to address it, in order to obtain a rate/risk ratio appropriate to the profile of each exporter”.
These are some of the suggestions regarding logistics and the fruit export sector, delivered by Sebastián Valdés Lutz, a commercial engineer from the P. Universidad Católica de Chile, with 22 years of experience in various agri-food sectors and who, in addition, will be a speaker at the 10th EXPO Prunes, organized by Chileprunes, an event that will take place this Wednesday, March 22.
For this interview we found him in Honduras. He travels a lot to that country, since since August 2021 he has been vice president of each of the Boards of Directors of the companies of the Agrolíbano Group -owner of approximately 3,500 hectares for growing melons, watermelons, among others-, belonging to the businessman Miguel Molina Pineda, who has even been on the cover of Forbes. “I came to Grupo Agrolíbano through an international recruitment process,” he explains.
At the Prunes EXPO, on time, he will talk about the future of logistics… “after the crash!”. Some of his words…
“After the collapse of the supply chain in 2021, the shipping industry, land and air transport have been put back in order, with large investments to increase their capacity. The growth in supply, insufficient to satisfy the global need for logistics services in 2021-2022, will be much higher than the growth in demand in the coming years (2023-2024), which is already being reflected in space availability and better rates. ”, he points out.
What would be the main logistics and transportation problems that you have to focus on as exporters?
We must be attentive to the development of the logistics industry in terms of the trends that have been taking place in the pre-pandemic period, such as the concentration of supply in fewer hands, and how this can damage the flexibility to obtain freight with delivery times. adequate transit, at reasonable rates.
Another focus is the development of the war between Ukraine and Russia, due to its implications on the price of oil, and due to the decrease in shipping services to and from Russian ports, these being the door to one of the main markets for the fruits Chilean dried, among them the prunes.
Exactly, do you have any suggestions for exporters of this fruit?
Prunes do not put their condition at risk as fresh fruit does in the face of deficient logistics services, but they do risk prestige and sales when they do not fulfill their promise to deliver to the customer. It must never be forgotten that the customer buys the product and the opportunity, and that the value delivered by the exporter resides in this expanded product.
Can you tell us something about your presentation at the EXPO Prunes?
Logistics after the pandemic are not the same as before it. The international supply chain was ‘reset’ under new parameters that you have to learn to read. In my presentation I will try to show you, with facts and figures, how the crash came to be and how the industry has dealt with its effects after it, to then enter a stage of establishing the new competitive environment.
Another interviewee told us that “the logistics issue appears to have been moderately resolved, there being no problems with prices or freight. Now last, the prices are not bad”. Do you agree with that comment?
I agree that the storm has abated from its peak. However, new challenges are coming that may remind us of the calm, perhaps not to the extent that the pandemic did, but enough to alter the rating of the agricultural business.
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EXPO Prunes is an event that returns in person after three years, organized by Chileprunes, a union that brings together more than 70% of the exports of this fruit.
“We want to invite the dried plum industry, the entire production chain, producers, processors, exporters, suppliers, customers, institutions to save the date and participate again in a great event, this time called ’10 Expo Prunes, the Industry Reunion’. They will be able to find out about commercial and technical aspects, together with great exhibitors such as Sebastián Valdés, and talk with their peers, to project and visualize.
