Prices on the Ecuadorian Banana Industry in W28 Still Affected by Local and International Instability

After the national strike from the Ecuadorian indigenous community in June, the banana business in Ecuador is still struggling to stabilize the local prices to match the international buying prices of most destination markets. During the second week of July 2022, the FOB price increased from USD7.9 to USD 8.9 per 18.14kg box. Forecasts indicate that prices will increase further in July to USD 9.40 per box due to the cold weather in the country and the decay in supply as plantations of small and middle-sized producers closed due to the income loss caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The pricing trend in Ecuador is not consistent with global banana pricing since the Middle East, China, and Europe show a downward trend in pricing due to oversupply. The demand for Ecuadorian bananas is decreasing since the United States is the only one capable of paying current banana prices in Ecuador. The United States has increased its Ecuadorian banana demands since the banana supply in Central America decreased due to heavy storms. Russia dropped their Ecuadorian banana demand since their CIF price decayed to USD 14 per box of 18.14 Kg. The banana demand from the Middle East also decreased since Jordan ceased all banana imports due to an oversupply of the fruit in their wholesale market