Canary Islands banana exports increased by 12.5 per cent in February this year compared with the same period of 2009, rising from 26,416 tonnes to more than 29,730 tonnes, in spite of the considerable difficulties that the sector has faced over recent months.
According to data from the Canaries Institute of Statistics (ISTAC), producers in Tenerife accounted for the majority of shipments at 14,000 tonnes, followed by Gran Canaria and La Palma, and lesser amounts from El Hierro and La Gomera.
The Spanish domestic market remains the principal destination for Canaries bananas. According to ISTAC, of the 61,430 tonnes of bananas exported from the islands last year, some 61,410 tonnes were shipped to the Spanish mainland.
Separately, a summit banana producers from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, which was last week in Adeje, Tenerife, has called on the European Union to carry out an economic and environmental study of the impact the lowering of the EU’s banana import tariff will have on ACP producers.
In a closing statement, delegates urged the EU to consider providing further financial and technical aid to ACP countries to help producers cope with the decision to reduce the import tax for Latin American bananas and enable them to diversify production.
The meeting also called on the European authorities to put in place compensation measures for producers in outlying European regions and promote initiatives to consolidate sustainable banana production in areas such as the Canary Islands, Spanish news agency EFE reported.
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