The primary refrigerated products are bananas, meat, citrus fruit, fish and seasonal fruit. Developments over the last fifteen years with regard to these various refrigerated goods can be seen from the tables. The highest growth in absolute terms is in bananas and meat, which have a large share of the overall market anyway.
The proportion of the respective products transported by sea compared with the total volume transported varies considerably: Bananas are almost always transported by sea (99%), whereas the proportion for citrus fruit is only 52%, for seasonal fruit 48% and for dairy products 41%.
Trends in the maritime transport of refrigerated products
Source: Ocean Shipping Consultants 1994
| Bananas | Meat | Citrus | Seasonal fruit |
Fish | Dairy products |
Other | Total | Annual increase |
|
| 1981 | 6.78 | 6.24 | 5.99 | 2.23 | 1.75 | 1.05 | 0.15 | 24.19 | - |
| 1982 | 6.77 | 6.13 | 6.13 | 2.14 | 1.82 | 1.04 | 0.20 | 24.23 | 0.2% |
| 1983 | 6.07 | 6.25 | 6.10 | 2.45 | 1.95 | 0.89 | 0.21 | 23.92 | -1.3% |
| 1984 | 6.59 | 5.96 | 6.14 | 2.28 | 2.15 | 1.01 | 0.32 | 24.45 | 2.2% |
| 1985 | 7.13 | 6.07 | 5.76 | 2.46 | 2.72 | 1.05 | 0.35 | 25.54 | 4.5% |
| 1986 | 7.26 | 6.45 | 6.27 | 2.32 | 2.95 | 1.10 | 0.28 | 26.63 | 4.3% |
| 1987 | 7.51 | 6.68 | 6.50 | 2.56 | 3.41 | 0.95 | 0.35 | 27.96 | 5.0% |
| 1988 | 7.84 | 7.21 | 6.80 | 2.73 | 3.95 | 0.95 | 0.54 | 30.02 | 7.4% |
| 1989 | 8.28 | 7.50 | 7.05 | 2.89 | 4.05 | 0.95 | 0.65 | 31.37 | 4.5% |
| 1990 | 9.04 | 7.75 | 6.88 | 3.00 | 4.10 | 1.05 | 0.72 | 32.54 | 3.7% |
| 1991 | 9.93 | 8.31 | 6.79 | 3.21 | 4.45 | 1.12 | 0.85 | 34.66 | 6.5% |
| 1992 | 10.45 | 8.47 | 7.14 | 3.32 | 4.95 | 1.16 | 0.95 | 36.44 | 5.1% |
| 1993 | 10.44 | 8.45 | 7.08 | 3.37 | 5.20 | 1.10 | 1.05 | 36.69 | 0.7% |
| 1994 | 10.85 | 8.92 | 7.34 | 3.50 | 5.35 | 1.21 | 1.15 | 38.32 | 4.4% |
| 1995 | 11.31 | 9.63 | 7.61 | 3.67 | 5.45 | 1.38 | 1.20 | 40.25 | 5.0% |
| 1996 | 11.66 | 10.30 | 7.82 | 3.87 | 5.50 | 1.42 | 1.25 | 41.82 | 3.9% |
| 1997 | 12.02 | 11.13 | 8.13 | 4.05 | 5.50 | 1.50 | 1.38 | 43.71 | 4.5% |
| 1998 | 12.44 | 12.02 | 8.42 | 4.25 | 5.65 | 1.56 | 1.45 | 45.79 | 4.8% |
| 1999 | 13.02 | 12.98 | 8.59 | 4.37 | 5.75 | 1.72 | 1.51 | 47.94 | 4.7% |
| 2000 | 13.69 | 14.02 | 8.78 | 4.53 | 6.00 | 1.95 | 1.60 | 50.57 | 5.5% |
All values are in million metric tons
Post 1993, values are estimated
Table 1: Trends in the overall volume of refrigerated products transported
by sea [1]
Trends in the maritime transport of refrigerated products
Source: Drewry Shipping Consultants 1999
| Bananas | Meat | Citrus | Seasonal fruit |
Exotic fruit | Fish | Dairy products |
Other | Total | |
| 1985 | 7.02 | 4.80 | 4.25 | 2.17 | - | 2.20 | 1.60 | - | 22.04 |
| 1986 | 13.33 | 9.71 | 4.58 | 3.99 | 1.35 | 8.77 | 1.56 | 4.12 | 47.41 |
| 2000 | 14.12 | 10.76 | 4.99 | 4.32 | 1.54 | 9.18 | 1.59 | 4.93 | 51.43 |
| 2005 | 15.80 | 12.28 | 5.33 | 4.71 | 1.76 | 9.74 | 1.65 | 5.84 | 57.11 |
All values in million metric tons
Figures as of 2000 are estimates
| Seasonal fruit: | Apples, pears, dessert grapes |
| Exotic fruits: | Pineapples, kiwi fruit, avocados |
| Fish: | Fresh, chilled and frozen |
| Dairy products: | Butter and cheese |
Table 2: Trends in the overall volume of refrigerated products transported
by sea [2]
Figure 1 shows the various refrigerated goods as proportions of the overall volume in 1996. The typical frozen goods, i.e. meat, fish and dairy products, constitute around 42% of the overall volume, and fruit transport constitutes around 56%.
 |
| Figure 1: Proportions of the various refrigerated products transported by sea [2] |
The main countries of origin of refrigerated products that are imported into the EU are shown in Figure 2: This also reflects the importance of fruit transport, since countries such as Costa Rica, South Africa, Ecuador, Colombia and Morocco are primarily fruit suppliers.
Large volumes of refrigerated goods are still transported on refrigerated cargo ships, as is the case for bananas in particular. Modern refrigerated cargo ships are also providing ever increasing capacity for transporting refrigerated containers (reefers) on deck (up to approx. 120 FEU = 240 TEU).
But there is also a clear trend towards increased containerization, which means that refrigerated cargo ships are increasingly facing competition from reefers. Thus, very few refrigerated container ships are built today, and transport capacities for reefers is growing significantly faster than the refrigerated goods market (see Section 2.2.2). Today, the reefer market is largely dominated by reefers with integrated refrigeration units.
The proportion of reefers used for maritime transport of refrigerated goods was around 50% in 2000. This of course varies depending on the cargo type.
 |
| Figure 2: Imports of fresh fruit into the EU by country of origin 1994 [3] |
