China: weak position for Hainan banana growers

Hainan Province, in the South of China, is famous for its fruit production. However, due to poorly developed cold chain systems, export or sales in the rest of China has been limited.

In 2014, the total output of bananas in China reached 9.08 million ton. China's total demand for bananas reached 13 million tons during the same year. As a consequence, China has to import bananas to fill the demand and supply gap. Whereas it also happens that bananas sell very poorly in certain regions in China.

According to Mr, Chen, a banana grower from Hainan province, when banana harvest season comes around, grower are completely depended on the traders they work with. Therefore their bananas are often sold at a cheaper and instable price level. If banana growers refuse to sell their bananas at such low prices, because they prefer to wait for a better price, the result can be that that even more bananas have to be sold at a lower price when the harvest is in full swing

Source: International Tourism Island Business Daily