São Francisco Valley fruit sector set to resume exports through the Port of Suape

Pernambuco is expected to resume shipments of fruit production from the São Francisco Valley to the international market through the Port of Suape. This Friday (21), the Pacto pelo Agro — a partnership between the Suape Industrial Port Complex and the Secretariat of Agrarian Development, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries — advanced negotiations with the sector.

To move the talks forward, a memorandum of understanding was signed in Petrolina, in the state’s Sertão region, with leaders of the region’s productive sector to formalize the interest in establishing institutional and technical cooperation to seek ways to guarantee the export of local production through the Port of Suape. The objective is to discuss the operational challenges of exporting fruit through Suape. The port of Pernambuco is the 6th busiest public port in the country.

The night before, the state governor, Raquel Lyra, reinforced, at the opening of Vinhuva Fest, in the neighboring municipality of Lagoa Grande, the commitment to take the fruit production of the São Francisco Valley to Suape. She emphasized the logistics and infrastructure of the Pernambuco port as attractions for exporting local production abroad.

The president of Abrafrutas, Guilherme Coelho, projects a growth scenario for the sector. “Suape is receiving a lot of investment from the Raquel Lyra Government and we here in the Valley are ready and prepared for this port to once again handle our fruit. It is fair, dignified and important because Pernambuco is the state that exports the most fruit in Brazil. It is a moment of great enthusiasm, great commitment, and we are very happy with the visit of the secretary and the CEO of Suape to make this announcement,” he said.

According to the president of the Petrolina Rural Producers’ Union, Jailson Lira, the memorandum is a symbol of the sector’s closer relationship with the government and of mutual interest. He reinforces that it is important to work with Suape so that its importance in the segment can be restored. “It is essential that the port be our export channel, especially for the new maritime routes destined for the Chinese and European markets, providing us with structure so that we can reach these markets more and more quickly,” he evaluated.

Arthur Grimaldi, from Valexport, considered the memorandum a major step forward: “We fought hard for this rapprochement. If we are able to export through Suape, we will reduce costs, generate efficiency and our fruit will suffer less. With this call for next year’s harvest, it is possible to schedule operations to coincide with a new phase of Suape.”

The memorandum was signed by the CEO of Suape, Armando Monteiro Bisneto; the Secretary of Agrarian Development, Cícero Moraes; the president of the Brazilian Association of Fruit and Derivatives Exporting Producers (Abrafrutas), Guilherme Coelho; the president of the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Exporters and Derivatives of the São Francisco Valley (Valexport), José Gualberto de Almeida (represented by Institutional Director Arthur Grimaldi); and the president of the Petrolina Rural Producers’ Union, Jailson Lira.

Armando Bisneto reinforced the importance of the initiative for the port’s competitiveness. “This memorandum represents the formalization that we will work in accordance with what was agreed in the meeting prior to the signing. We need this proximity with producers because they understand well the paths we will take to achieve our objective,” he said.

“Under the guidance of Governor Raquel Lyra, we are increasingly closer to the productive sector. This is another step forward in decentralizing actions, proactively, and a recognition of the enormous contribution of the São Francisco Valley to our economy and to job creation,” said Secretary Cícero Moraes.

Source: Diário de Pernambuco

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