Boer bean export crisis: Royal Group and ETG in heated dispute
The Royal Group Limited, recently forced to offload 250 containers from a ship due to a dispute with competitor ETG over the export of Boer beans from the port city of Nacala, is facing significant losses.
The company had its cargo ready for shipment to consumer markets when its competitor requested an inspection of the goods, suspecting them to be Boer beans under court seizure.
The issue involves ETG's request to Mozambican authorities to halt the export of 250 containers by RGL for inspection, suspecting the competitor of exporting Boer beans and other cargo worth 70 million dollars, which the court had seized in a dispute initiated by Royal Group.
"We have the product here, and we are facing huge losses. This again proves a false accusation intended to tarnish the good name of Royal Group," said Rui Domingos, RGL's representative, in statements to the media at the port of Nacala, Nampula.
This dispute has been ongoing for months and led ETG, which sought intervention from the President of the Republic, to file a precautionary measure, complaining of appropriation of its cargo at the port of Nacala by competitor RGL.
Authorities reported that at least 15 containers were unloaded, and none contained Boer beans. RGL complains of losing a contract with the buyer due to the ship's delay in leaving the port of Nacala.
"We have the containers here unloaded as you see, we are confirming the product. Clearly, what happened is not true; the product appearing here is Holoco beans and not Boer beans as they claimed we were exporting," stated Rui Domingos of RGL.
Despite no evidence of illegal Boer bean export in RGL's cargo, the ETG conglomerate insists that all 250 containers on the ship be unloaded and inspected.
"They should unload all the merchandise that is part of the group for inspection; that's what judicial inspection is, and that's what we request, not what others think they should do," said Mário Amisse, ETG's representative.
The conflict, now about 14 months old and without government comments, originated from RGL's accusation. They alleged that ETG and other companies exporting Boer beans to India – which buys almost all the national production – were responsible for claims that RGL had exported genetically modified (GM) soybeans to that country.
