February 06, 2024 | Industry News
February 2024 Regional Market Report News
Crop Updates
Artichokes
The El Niño conditions impacting weather and crop yields in South America combined with drought conditions in other growing regions such as Spain have caused the total availability of artichoke raw material to decrease substantially. Planting for the 2024/2025 season is beginning now and the expectation is that El Niño conditions will persist through 2024, causing further decreases in yields. Despite these challenges, Roland is working diligently with our supplier partners to stay close to the situation and secure supply for our customers.
Anchovies
Fishing in Peru remains substantially below historical levels as the challenges that have faced the region for more than a year have persisted. Because of this reduced availability of anchovies in Peru, the largest sourcing region, products must be sourced from other regions. Roland Foods has worked closely with our partners from around the world to source these items and stabilize inventory levels while continuing to monitor the situation in Peru.
Global Supply Chain and Logistics Updates
Container Kick-Off for 2024
2024 container volumes are off to a strong start driven by a surge of imports before factories close for the Chinese New Year. While volumes are projected to decline gradually in the later part of Q1, an upward trend is expected in Q2. The improved performance of the US economy has led to anticipated growth of cargo in 2024, however, the coming year will not be without challenges.
Update on Impacts in The Middle East
Due to conflicts in Israel, tensions in the Red Sea have escalated since the new year. Terrorist attacks on vessels have caused shipping lines to avoid the Red Sea, opting for routes around South Africa. This detour adds more than 10 days to the Asia–Europe trade lane, causing a ripple effect in the global trade network.Carriers must adjust schedules to accommodate these changes, even impacting trade lanes not directly crossing the Red Sea, causing delays and price increases. Particularly, rates from Asia to the United States West Coast have more than doubled since early December. Improvement in the shipping situation is not expected until post-Chinese New Year, when container volumes decrease, allowing carriers to balance capacity effectively.
At Roland Foods, we have planned accordingly, leveraging our strategic partnerships with carriers and forwarders to mitigate delays and minimize disruption exposure.