Ecuador 09/07/2021

Drop in banana exports from Ecuador

 

According to Eluniverso, banana exports from Ecuador in the first 5 months of 2021 decreased by 4.12% - 32.61%, depending on the destination (compared to the same period in 2020).

According to the Banana Marketing and Export Association in Ecuador (Acorbanec), total banana sales reached 170.44 million boxes, which means a decrease of 3.05%.

Organic banana exports decreased by 4.16%; while Red Banana showed a rise of 33.85% and Baby Banana rose by 10.83%.

The countries that reduced purchases of the fruit are from the European Union bloc; the United Kingdom; EFTA: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein; the Middle East; East Asia; Oceania; Russia and Canada.

The contraction in some of those countries is related to the consequences of COVID-19 in the economies, oil prices and increased tariffs.

However, there are countries that increaresed their purchases of Ecuadorian bananas: Africa by 60.19%, the United States by 12.85%, Eastern Europe by 30.16%, and the Southern Cone by 1.68%.

The United States received 18.51 million boxes of Ecuadorian bananas and this increase is mainly due to the fact that Ecuador occupied spaces left by countries such as Honduras and Guatemala, whose banana plantations were affected by a hurricane, explained Richard Salazar, executive director of Acorbanec.

The export sector also faces logistical problems that complicate the transfer of the fruit due to the deficit of shipping spaces and containers that has been ongoing since April.

Exporters believe that this situation could be caused by the change of routes in shipping companies to serve markets that allow them to come and go full, and by congestion in some important ports.