Volcano eruption impacts flower shipments

While eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which started April 14, has impacted air passenger flights, it is also having a major impact on the shipment of goods including flowers to and from Europe. The ash generated by the volcano has canceled thousands of flights to more than 20 European countries. USA Today reports that Kenya’s greenhouse flowers, which account for 20% of the country’s exports, are rotting in warehouses because they can’t be delivered to Europe.
Adrienne Lansbergen, press officer for FloraHolland, said the volcanic eruption has had the biggest impact on exporters that buy from the flower auctions that ship outside Europe to countries like the U.S. and Japan. These flowers account for about 30% of the auctions’ total sales. She said 70% of the product sold through the auctions is delivered to western European destinations and is shipped by truck. She said Kenyan growers sent 2 large air transport planes on April 19 to an airport in northern Spain and then delivered the flowers to the Dutch auctions by truck, which takes about 20 hours. On Monday one transport flight from Kenya was able to land in Amsterdam. Growers in Ecuador, Colombia and Israeli, who also ship product to the Dutch auctions have also been affected by the flight disruptions. Lansbergen said she expected shortages of some products in the upcoming days if air flights continue to be restricted.