Typhoons and unfavourable weather have ravaged China’s banana growing areas, cutting estimates of the country’s banana harvest to a ten-year low.
Simon Zhang from banana importer Pan-Pacific Trading told Asiafruit this year would be one of the easiest for imported bananas in China, with little competition from domestic growers.
“Due to the typhoon last year, local production in the Hainan Province is very low,” said Zhang. “Even though we expect the season to peak in August, we don’t think it will have much of an impact on the market.
“The other major plantation areas are Guangxi and Yunnan, both of which are seeing delayed production this year,” said Zhang. “This year will probably be the easiest year for imported bananas in China in over a decade.”
Celine Zhang from importer-exporter Ruihua Everfresh, based in Dalian in China’s northeast, has similar forecasts for this year’s banana season, citing poor weather conditions for below-par production. “As a result, this year, there’s not much competition for imported bananas,” said Zhang.
