The overproduction faced by the local banana sector, which was unable to export the product abroad, indicates that the sector must work quickly to make its way into the North American market and it must stop relying exclusively on the European market.
"We can't put all of our eggs in a single basket," as the popularly expression goes. That is precisely what has been happening with banana exporters, who have focused on Europe so much that they get in big trouble when an unexpected event occurs there.
One of the problems that prevented the exporters of the Dominican Republic to export the bulk of the banana production is that they were unable to sign sales contracts in time because there was practically no production on the farms at the time of signing the contracts. There wasn't enough production due to the natural phenomena that affected the plantations since the end of 2016, especially the floods.
According to producers of the Northwest Line, the local harvest started when the schools in Europe were closed. Additionally, since they hadn't signed any contracts, there were no large orders for the Dominican territory and for other countries that send the item to Europe. As a result, there was too much banana left in the country.
Normally, contracts with international buyers are signed in September and continue to be signed in November, so that the first containers from Dominican ports begin to be shipped out around the third week of December so they can arrive at their destination in the first week of January of the following year. After that, the buying and selling process normally flows. Currently, the Dominican Government has had to intervene and help the banana sector get rid of the accumulated production. The government is purchasing the production for local consumption, via different state programs. After several negotiations with the Dominican Association of Banana Producers (Adobanano), the Ministry of Agriculture established it would purchase the excess quintal in 175 pesos.
Source: elcaribe.com.do