Flower shippers look to stick the petal in the metal

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It’s not all bad news coming from the icy reefer trades. The container industry’s doldrums are at least helping to introduce a little more South American colour to the wintry North European landscape.

Rock bottom reefer rates have encouraged Colombian and Ecuadorean flower exporters to make the shift from air to sea transport on key long-haul trades, in particular South America to the UK and Russia.

Holland’s principal flower auction FloraHolland has made important in-roads into shipping South American blooms by sea ...