The Foreign Trade Research and Development Institute of the Chamber of Commerce of Lima (IDEXCAM) estimated that the value of Peruvian banana exports would grow by at least 10% in the next three years.
"This growth will be driven by a greater demand in the main destination markets and a better productive performance of the cultivated and harvested areas, which have registered positive advances in the last two years," said Carlos Posada, the executive director of CCL's Idexcam.
According to the institute, between January and October 2017, banana exports amounted to US $ 125.11 million, i.e. 4% more than in the same period of 2016. Meanwhile, the export volume totaled 170,298 tons.
The main destination markets for this fruit are the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), both of which accounted for 62% of the country's total banana exports in 2016. San Martin is the region with the biggest harvested area and production of bananas.
These positive estimates are in line with what has been recorded in the last two years, in which there were significant growth levels. "In 2014, banana exports amounted to US $119 million. In 2016 the exported value amounted to US $152 million, which represents an average annual growth of 13%," he said.
In addition, the country's volume of bananas would allow it to enter other markets. "This could increase our exports, as only 8% of the banana crop is exported to different destinations where we compete with other countries, such as Costa Rica, Ecuador and Colombia, which are our main rivals in the US market, as well as the Philippines in the Korean market," Carlos Posada stated.
Source: elcomercio.pe