Spain: Banana imports almost equal volume of Canary shipments

In the month of April, American and African bananas returned to the Spanish market. Imports almost equalled the volume of the shipments from the Canary Islands, with some 33,000 tonnes. The market share of imported bananas oscillated between 41% and 58%.

In April 2018, 33,735 tonnes were shipped from the Canary Islands, while imports, mainly from Africa and Latin America, amounted to 32,846 tonnes. Meanwhile, re-exports totalled 9,710 tonnes. Thus, Spanish consumers had access to some 56,871 tonnes of bananas. With these figures, the market share of imported bananas in April has ranged from a minimum of 41% to a maximum of 58%.

The main suppliers of imported bananas in April were Costa Rica, with 11,403 tonnes, Côte d'Ivoire, with 7,445 tonnes and Colombia, with 3,729 tonnes. Together, these three countries accounted for 69% of the total volume.

So far in 2018, shipments from the Canary Islands have reached almost 148,639 tonnes, while 109,213 tonnes have been imported and re-exports have totalled 36,259 tonnes, so the available supply has stood at 221,593 tonnes, 16,680 more than in the same period of 2017. The accumulated market share of imported bananas in Spain has ranged from a minimum of 33% to a maximum of 49%.

The main suppliers of imported bananas so far this year have been Costa Rica, with 38,972 tonnes, Côte d'Ivoire, with 20,981 tonnes, Colombia, with 13,877 tonnes and France, with 11,161 tonnes. Together, these four countries account for 78% of the total volume.