Between January and March 2024, Ecuador exported 99.47 million boxes of bananas, experiencing a slowdown in the decrease in banana exports compared to the same period of the previous year. In January exports decreased by 12.17% and in February by 3.51%. Despite these numbers, exports in the first quarter only fell by 0.40%. The Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec) attributed the slight improvement to the decrease in the supply of bananas from competing countries in Central America and Colombia due to adverse weather issues, which led to an increase in the demand for Ecuadorian bananas, especially in March, to satisfy orders in the United States and the European Union.
30.79% of the product exported was sent to the European Union, the main destination market, 19.24% to Russia, 12.73% to the Middle East, 12.22% to the United States, and 6.35% to Africa, which consolidated itself as the fifth largest destination. Acorbanec said that, despite the results, Ecuador faced challenges during this quarter, including weather conditions that affected the normal production of the plantations, which resulted in smaller clusters and, therefore, a decrease in production.
Another considerable challenge was that the minimum support price of a box of bananas for this year was set at $6.85, which caused a decrease in purchases by important markets, especially in the European Union, which registered a 3.79% decrease in its purchases, opting to buy bananas from Colombia and Central America. Russia also reduced its purchases by 19%. However, unlike the European Union, it did not compensate for this decrease with purchases from other markets, due to the high price of the fruit.
Source: expreso.ec