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Background
The native cut flower industry is unusual among Australian horticultural industries in that much of its production is exported by air. However, the industry is threatened by rising air freight costs combined with a relatively high current Australian dollar (A$1 = US$0.85, June 2007) and vigorous competition from other countries, particularly in our main export market of Japan. These factors have reduced industry profitability to critical levels.

Sea freight may offer an economic alternative to air transport. Costs are generally around 50-60% of air freight, a saving which would add directly to grower profitability. Exporting by sea may be particularly attractive for bulky, heavy or low value products, for which airfreight is no longer economic. Shipping container technology and availability has improved significantly in recent times.

At the same time, shipping times have decreased, it now taking 8-9 days to ship from Brisbane to Tokyo instead of 2 weeks or more. This could be within the storage capacity of many native cut flower species.

Methods and Results – Part 1 (laboratory experiments)
The first stage of the project involved a series of storage and vase life tests on various cut flower species. Tests investigated whether these flowers still retained at least 7 days vase life after storage for 0 to 4 weeks. In addition, a number of treatments were trialled to see if storability could be improved.

These treatments included pre-storage pulses, sprays, packaging methods and storage atmospheres.

The results indicated that Backhousia myrtifolia, Eucalyptus cv. Bronze Orange Red, Pink waxflower, Protea eximia cv. Duchess and White cassinia all had less than 7 days vase life after 2 weeks storage.

None of the treatments tested increased storage life. These species are therefore unlikely to be suitable for shipping by sea to Japan.

Both Geraldton wax cv, My Sweet Sixteen and Protea Pink Ice could potentially have acceptable vase life after 2 weeks storage. Storage life of Pink Ice can be maximised by pulsing with a 3 or 6% glucose solution to reduce the onset of leaf blackening. However, vase life may still not be acceptable as susceptibility to leaf blackening varies widely between individual stems as well as due to seasonal changes and plant health at harvest.

The best candidates for sea freight to Japan were Kangaroo paw cv. Yellow Gem and NSW Christmas bush. For these species the initial quality of the plant material was the most important factor affecting storability. Such differences were not clear at harvest. In the case of Kangaroo paws, material from different growers which initially appeared similar varied considerably in quality and vase life after storage. For NSW Christmas bush, small differences at harvest became much greater following storage. While the reasons for such variations were not entirely clear, having a clear understanding of what constitutes initial quality is likely to be a critical factor in the success or otherwise of shipping native cut flowers by sea.

Methods and Results – Part 2 (trial shipment to Japan)
The project’s second stage involved conducting an actual shipment of cut flowers and foliage to Japan.

This trial occurred in November 2005 in collaboration with Maersk Sealand. Cut native flowers and foliages were contributed directly by growers from northern NSW and southern Qld as well as through the exporter. Initial quality was recorded and a number of products were repacked. Packaging treatments included Procona containers partly filled with water and CSIRO moisture control technology (MCT) liners. NSW Christmas bush was also wrapped in LDPE plastic and LongLife film.

Data loggers were distributed through the load to monitor temperature and humidity during transport.

It took 9 days to ship the container from Brisbane to Yokohama port. On arrival, Japanese plant quarantine inspected 300 stems of each species and variety. During this inspection a number of significant issues became apparent;

• The shipping container had to be unpacked on the wharf in order to access the required samples. Commercial shipments should limit the number of species and place sample cartons near the door of the container for easy access.
• Carton labels often did not have enough detail. The phytosanitary certificate had only the botanical name of each species whereas many cartons were labelled with only the common name or variety. In addition, the number of stems inside each carton was sometimes unclear, making it difficult to calculate how many cartons had to be inspected.
• There were inaccuracies on the phytosanitary certificate. These included spelling mistakes, errors in the number of cartons of each species, declaration of species which weren’t in the shipment and non-inclusion of species which were in the shipment.
• Live insects were found inside a carton of Leucospermums. This could have led to fumigation being required for the entire container.

Once the shipping container cleared customs and was delivered to the importers repacking facility we were able to assess product quality. In general, the results supported the finding from the laboratory trials that initial quality is critical to obtaining good outturn quality. Plant materials which were supplied in average to poor condition deteriorated greatly during transport and were rejected by the importer. However, good quality NSW Christmas bush, Kangaroo paws, foliages and other species retained their quality during transport and were still in saleable condition at outturn.

The various packaging materials trialled had minimal effects on product quality. The exception was the Kangaroo paw cultivars which benefited from transport in water. Shipping Kangaroo paws in Proconas maintained flower brightness and turgidity as well as prevented stems becoming flattened during extended storage. Transporting other species in water had minimal effect. No benefit was observed in substituting CSIRO’s moisture control technology (MCT) liner for a standard plastic carton liner.

Implications
Financial data from the trial indicated that transport costs for sea freight were approximately 60% of normal air freight costs. Prices received at auction were decreased by approximately 10% overall relative to equivalent products shipped by air. Values were more depressed for high value, long stems than shorter stems, suggesting that sea freight is likely to be most appropriate for lower value, commodity type products.

However, the financial attractiveness of sea freight depends on the relative prices of sea and air, both of which are constantly changing. Non-cost factors such as perceived risk, difficulties of obtaining sufficient volume of product and the need to meet orders quickly are also important. A recent analysis by QDPI&F of the cost effectiveness of air vs. sea freight to Japan for Australian cut flowers indicated that, at the time of the study, air freight was the better option.

Recommendations
In summary, it is physically possible to ship a number of cut flower and foliage species from Australia to Japan and retain acceptable quality and vase life. However, a number of supply chain issues need to be addressed if sea freight is to be conducted efficiently. Moreover, the financial viability of exporting by sea freight needs to be evaluated using up to date information on costs and expected returns in the Japanese market on a product by product basis.
 

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Last updated: January 2008
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http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/NAP/07-181sum.html