The attempt of the Finnish food company Atria to export thousands of kilos of pork by train earlier this autumn failed, the company has confirmed.
During a test run at the end of September, a freight train freezer truck containing about 20,000 kg of pork by-products was stopped at the Russian border due to incomplete export documents.
According to Atria’s CEO, the meat stored in the car was later destroyed Juha Grön.
"Yes it is true. This was a test tank and the train transport was not successful," Grön said and added that Atria and the Finnish authorities kept the export documents in order.
Grön did not comment on which party considered the documents to be insufficient.
"In addition to Atria and Finland, there are other countries and actors involved, so I will not comment on this in more detail. When something new is done, there are different opinions about what kind of documents are needed," Grön said.
Up to 20 million pounds this year
The destroyed pork by-products were mainly frozen pork and hooves. Grön said that although 20,000 kg is a large amount, it is still relatively small compared to the company’s pork transportation by sea.
According to Grön, Atria exports about half a million kilos of pork products to China every week. However, it takes about 40 days to transport them by sea, while the journey by train takes about two weeks.
"The train route would be faster and certainly more cost effective. We will go through this trial carefully and I think one day it will work. We knew the risks from the beginning," Grön said.
Atria’s pork shipments started on September 25 and were scheduled to pass through the megacity of Russia, Kazakhstan and further southwest China’s Chongqing.
Last year, Atria exported about nine million kilos of pork products to China. This year, according to Grön, the company plans to export about 15-20 million kilos of pork to Asian countries.
Quelle: Die nordische Seite