Ecuadorean banana exports rallied in the fourth quarter of 2021 to finish the year on 378.2m boxes according to the latest figures from Acorbanec. This was a decrease of less than 1 per cent on the 2020 total.
Between October and December, shipments totalled 96m boxes, 6m more than in the same period of 2020.
Richard Salazar, executive director of Acorbanec, said the improvement in the last quarter was due to improved availability of space on shipping services and increased supply as new acreage came on stream.
The European Union was the top market, absorbing 27.15 per cent of shipments. It was followed by Russia with 20.13 per cent, the Middle East with 13.89 per cent and the US with 9.96 per cent.
Eastern Europe and Africa were the fasting growing markets in 2021, registering increases of 26.93 per cent and 20.93 per cent respectively.
However, shipments to the Middle East were down 11.64 per cent and the UK saw a fall of 23.18 per cent.
Exports of baby bananas grew 4.26 per cent to 3.9m boxes, while organic banana shipments increased by 4.85 per cent to 16.5m boxes. Exports of red bananas totalled 90,962 boxes, an increase of 49.49 per cent on 2020.
