July 17 2007, 09:20

Cool summer in Ecuador resulted in the price growth for bananas in Russia and Ukraine

According to FreshPlaza.com, cool temperature and cloudy weather affected banana production in Ecuador. Banana production has declined 40% since the previous week as a result of weather conditions. One million 560 thousands of banana boxes were exported out of the port in Puerto Bolivar bay in the first last week of May; and only 1 mln. 172,000 boxes were exported in the third week of June.

To the experts' opinion, bad weather significantly slows down the process of banana ripening. At the same time, the producers of organic bananas mention less influence of weather to their production process. Fernando Monsalve says, trees receive additional energy due to the natural extracts, which cover leaves and protect bananas from cold air.

Despite of the production decrease the producers do not complain on the reduced profits, as banana prices have significantly increased. The indicative price is $3.75; the suppliers pay now almost $6 for a box (around $0.32/kg). Association of Banana Exporters from Ecuador informs that the average weekly banana export was 5 mln. 336 boxes in 2007. The average banana box weighs 18.4 kg, i.e. around 98.2 tons of bananas are weekly exported from Ecuador.

CIS produce business periodical, ""Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" weekly" informs that the wholesale and retail prices for banana are now significantly higher than a year ago despite of hot summer in Ukraine and Russia which usually leads to the dramatic decline of the demand for bananas. In particular, the wholesale price for banana was 17% higher in Kyiv yesterday comparing to the same day in 2006, but lower than in May 2007.

We'd like to remind that Ecuador is the main supplier of bananas to Russian and Ukrainian markets; many large Russian importers actively purchase banana plantations in this country. At the same time, the price growth for bananas in Ecuador is able to make Ukrainian and Russian importers diversify the geography of banana supplies. You can get more information regarding the perspectives of fruit and vegetable import to Russia during the second international conference "Produce business in Russia 2007"; the event will be held in the framework of the international specialized exhibition "IFE Fresh Produce 2007" on October 23rd-25th 2007 on the territory of EXPOCENTER in Moscow.