QUINCY — The 2014 apple crop was the biggest in state history: 155 million boxes. To date, apple sales are moving at a pretty consistent pace, according to regional fruit marketers.
Chelan Fruit in Chelan ships record numbers of apples each week, said general sales manager Tim Evans. Chelan Fruit also has customers around north central Washington and the Columbia Basin. But there’s a glitch.
The operators of ports up and down the West Coast and the union representing longshoremen are engaged in negotiations for a new contract. One of the many consequences of those negotiations is a slowdown in loading merchandise for shipment overseas. That’s bad because about one-third of the apples produced in Washington are exported, Evans said. “It (the slowdown) has impacted us in a big way because we could be doing more (export business),” he said.
“It has certainly had an effect on shipping and movement,” said Steve Castleman, senior vice president of sales for Columbia Marketing International in Wenatchee. Domestic fruit transportation was affected also, he said, especially from October to December. That’s because trucks working the eastern half of the U.S. won’t come west unless they are confident they can find profitable loads coming and going, Castleman said.
