The world banana leader, Ecuador, is not done growing exports yet. They are aiming to triple exports to China over the next decade once the new free trade agreement starts. “Our expectation is to triple banana exports from Ecuador to China to 600,000 tons per year,” declares Ing. Richard Salazar, executive director of Ecuador’s Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec).
He says the latest statistics shows Ecuador banana exports up to May 2023 increased by about 2,96% compared to last year. Salazar ascribes this increase to higher production as well as the key European Union market that has started to hear their plea to pay better prices.
“Europe is buying more bananas, they also paid more. This is due to our efforts last year when we spoke to European supermarkets in Germany, Brussels etc. They received our message, this year is different. We increased export to the EU with 31% and also to Russia with 22%,” explains Salazar.
Ecuador has strong competition in the Middle Eastern markets where exports have been going down. “The Middle East has huge production with India and the Philippines who also sent to these markets. We sent to Turkey, but they are big banana producers too.”
Salazar says other factors that played a role in the increased volumes is higher production that increased by around 6%. “We produced more in the first three months of the year because we had good weather, very sunny days, which led to increased production. During April and May we had heavy rain that affected the export quality.”
He says as an industry they are also bracing for the changing weather phenomenon of El Nino. “We are preparing for the arrival of the El Nino phenomenon, it is projected strong, we are in the banana plantations giving maintenance to drainage channels, walls that face the river banks are being reinforced, in some cities rivers are being dredged, etc. It is a work on preventive measures, between the government, provincial and local authorities with the banana sector. Likewise, we continue to work hard on preventive measures to prevent the arrival of the tropical Fusarium race 4 fungus, both at farms, airports, ports and borders,” explains Salazar.
Ecuador’s banana industry is eagerly awaiting their Congress to ratify the FTA with China, hopefully later this year. “Bananas from Ecuador currently pay a 10% tariff in China. With the trade agreement, a tariff reduction was achieved in 10 years, that is, a reduction of one percentage point each year, and our expectations are to triple exports to this country that currently are 200,000 tons per year, we think we can increase production for them to 600,000 tons per year,” concludes Salazar.
For more information:
Richard Salazar
Acorbanec
Tel. +593 42136348
Email: [email protected]
www.acorbanec.com