Fresh bananas from Cambodia are still being exported to the Chinese market. However, fresh mangoes to the South Korean market have been badly hit by the Coronavirus effect on fresh fruit markets.
Longmate Agriculture, one of the local companies allowed to export bananas directly to China, reports still being able to send the fresh fruit directly, according to Hun Lak, the company director. “We still export our fresh bananas to the market as usual, via shipment,” he said. However, Hun noted his company did not meet the goal of shipping 22,000 tonnes of the fruit last year. Confirming that it was a bit lower than that expected largely because of weather conditions that slightly limited the yield.
Honng Anh Gia Lai Agrico (HAGL Agrico), a Vietnamese conglomerate, has planted a variety of fruits including bananas in Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province. It began shipping the fruit to the Chinese market in late December and also stated the company’s banana shipment is still doing well despite ongoing fears.
“Our banana shipments haven’t been affected by the Novel Coronavirus so far. We are still shipping the fruit to the Chinese market every day,” Nguyen Thi Ha Thuy, investment manager for HGAL in Cambodia, told the Khmer Times yesterday.
HAGL Agrico sends its bananas to China through its subsidiaries. Together, the companies have 10 packing facilities that can produce up to 25,000 tonnes of fresh bananas per year. She said, in addition to China, the company also exports the fruit to Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
However, while these two banana exporters are claiming that their businesses haven’t been hurt by the virus, mango exporters have stated their businesses are being damaged by the outbreak.