A succession of challenges have made it hard for the country to build on increasing market demand, says AEBE
Conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine, continued disruption in the Panama Canal due to drought, lower demand in Asia, and cold weather at source have presented Ecuador’s banana exporters with major challenges during the first eight months of the year.
But according to the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), strengthening demand in Europe has enabled the industry to maintain a similar level of exports during that period, with shipped volumes down by just 1.83 per cent year on year to 246.21mn boxes.
“These results are due to a stable European market with signs of strengthening,” the group said. “In this region, countries such as Germany, France, Malta, and Italy increased their imports. However, international conflicts affected navigation and the banana value chain, interrupting and delaying shipments to the Middle East and Russia.”
Ecuador sent 6.1mn additional boxes to the four countries mentioned up to August. However, exports to the Middle East region were approximately 4.2mn boxes down (-11.28 per cent) compared with the year-earlier period.
Volumes sent to Russia during the same period were 6.8mn boxes lower (-13.1 per cent), although in August itself they were 11.27 per cent up on the same month in 2023.
“The situation between Russia and Ukraine, the tensions in the Panama Canal and the Red Sea, have led to logistical obstacles that have meant delays and interruptions in banana shipments to the Middle East and Russia,” AEBE continued.
“On the other hand, in the European market, although the first week of August saw a weakened demand due to the summer season, during the second and third week, key countries in the region such as Germany and France began to stabilise, and finally in the fourth week showed a strengthening trend.”
Missed opportunities
In Asia, however, despite the signing of a free trade agreement with China four months ago, AEBE said exports had fallen year on year.
Approximately one million boxes were shipped in August of this year, compared with 1.8mn in August 2023.
Meanwhile, cold weather in Ecuador’s banana-growing areas is understood to have restricted supply for export, which meant the country was unable to meet growing demand in certain markets.
But at a company level, some operators managed to increase their exports – including Ubesa (20.82 per cent), Interbananaexport (70.46 per cent) and Frutadeli (19.67 per cent), the association reported.
“These companies increased their exports by more than 1.5 million boxes compared to the accumulated levels of August 2023,” it noted.
“On the other hand, companies such as Exporbanana (-34 per cent) and Agzulasa (-22.3 per cent) experienced a decrease in their export level.”
