In the span from January to August, Russia's importation of bananas from Ecuador has declined to 776 thousand tons, marking the lowest level in 12 years, as per RIA Novosti's analysis of data from the Latin American nation. This represents a 20 percent decrease compared to the same timeframe in 2023, making it the smallest quantity of Ecuadorian bananas imported to Russia since 2012 when the volume stood at 755 thousand tons.
Over the past five years, Russia has averaged an annual purchase of 958 thousand tons of bananas from Ecuador, which has constituted 20-25 percent of Ecuador's total banana export volume. However, during the first eight months of 2024, Russia's share of Ecuador's total banana exports dipped to 18.9 percent, the lowest it has been since 2001. Despite this decrease, Russia continues to be the primary importer of Ecuadorian bananas, followed by the United States at 14.8 percent and the Netherlands at 6.9 percent.
Following the drop in volumes directed towards Russia, Ecuador has not managed to redirect these quantities to alternative markets. Consequently, Ecuador's overall banana exports have decreased by 450 thousand tons, or 10 percent, totaling 4.1 million tons over eight months.
Source: Oreanda-News