South Korea looks to import 35m boxes of bananas from the Philippines
Piñol said South Korea needs about 35 million boxes more of Cavendish bananas valued at $280 million. The 35 million boxes of bananas—with an average weight of 13 kilograms—would be equivalent to 455,000 metric tons (MT).
“In my meeting with Dole South Korea [Dole Korea Ltd.], they [Dole Korea Ltd. officials] said South Korea needs about 35 million boxes more of Cavendish bananas from the Philippines,” he said in a recent interview with reporters.
“In fact, they have to import from Ecuador and Guatemala just to fill up the shortage. But South Korean banana consumers prefer Philippine bananas,” Piñol added.
The Philippines accounts for more than 90 percent of bananas being imported by South Korea annually. The PSA data showed that the total outbound shipments of bananas to Seoul last year was 12.45 percent higher than the 212,083 MT exported in 2015.
source: businessmirror.co.ph
