Ecuador exported 220.17 million boxes of bananas between January and July 2023, i.e. 6.99% more than in the same period of 2022.
According to Richard Salazar, executive director of Acorbanec, the increase in exports is due to three factors. "The first factor is the dynamics in production, as the main suppliers of bananas to the United States such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Colombia produce fewer bananas in winter; meanwhile Ecuador produces more fruit at that time. In fact, in the first semester of 2023, there was an approximately 9.5% growth in exportable production over the first semester of 2022."
"The second factor was the reduction in shipping freight rates, which are already at normal levels compared to the previous year when rates to some destinations had been doubled and even tripled (generating high inflation in world markets such as the European Union, the United States, Russia, etc.); although freight rates to Russia are still high. This reduced the cost of importing bananas, which is why destinations such as the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries have bought more bananas from Ecuador in the first 7 months of 2023."
"Finally, much of the organic bananas that Ecuador exports have gone to the United States, which is why there is an increase in banana exports to this country."
The main destination was Russia with a 21.18% share, followed by the United States with a 9.55% share, and the Netherlands with a 7.35% share.
The EU-27 is, in fact, the destination that has recorded the highest growth in the first 7 months of 2023, +23.54%, driven by the growth in purchases from the Netherlands, which increased its imports by 16.08% to almost 16.2 million boxes of bananas; Germany, which acquired 9.7 million boxes (+39.50%); Italy, with the purchase of 8.1 million boxes (+10.96%); Belgium, with 6.9 million boxes (+6.64%); Greece, with 6.5 million boxes (+42.07%), and Slovenia, with 4.9 million boxes (+59.57%).
Meanwhile, exports to Spain decreased by 46.62% to 766,500 million boxes.
For more information:
Acorbanec
https://acorbanec.com