The goal is to increase by at least $1 what is paid in that area for a box of fruit. A joint strategy will be polished at a meeting in Germany.
The Latin American banana producers they will meet in Berlin over the next week (April 4-8, 2022). The goal of meeting is to specify a proposal to respect the price of the fruit box in the European market and that the buyers meet shared responsibility commitments.
The trip “is concomitant with the call I made in January to all the countries banana growersrepresented by their Ministers of Agriculture, to claim the bad treatment we have in the fruit price“, said to Pedro AlavaMinister of Agriculture of Ecuador, the world’s leading exporter of the fruit.
Thus, the Ecuadorian minister will travel to Berlin this Sunday, April 3, 2022, in compliance with what was agreed at the Latin American Banana Summit, which established an official visit in person and/or jointly virtual to the 2022 Fruit Logistics Fair and a agenda in Brussels to promote regional objectives.
one more dollar
“We depend on the large supermarkets that exist in Europe and the price that we are proposing is, at least, that they recognize us one more dollar (for cash register) on the FOB, that each country has the right for free market”, he advanced Alavawho declined to disclose the price at which Ecuador sells because “it is confidential information, which would affect the market«.
Without going into details, the Minister asserted that the proposal will have the support of some European legislators: “We are going to do everything in our power to achieve it.”
The downward price problems have already begun to be felt since the last quarter of 2021. This caused the Ecuadorian banana sectorafter an exceptional 2020, closed last year at levels lower than initial projections.
shared responsibility
Álava recalled that there are shared responsibility agreements with the buyersthat “they are failing to comply, especially given the increase in price of fertilizers, and of the freight of the shipping companies, and the increase in the packaging materials of the banana box«.
“It is not only for us to have the responsibility to pay full wages to our field workers, but also (to cover) the exponential increases in the other factors,” he said.
For Alavait is necessary to “constitute a robust common front before importers, supermarkets and shipping companies, demanding that they assume the price hikes at the moment”.
“Only in this way would the true validity of Shared Social Responsibility be understood, as a moral obligation of all segments and not that the burden is transferred only to producers and exporters“, said.
The representatives will also analyze this issue at work tables between April 5 and 7, within the framework of the Fruit Logística 2022 Fair, the most important in the world for fruits, vegetables and vegetables.
War: Suspense and Pessimism
The Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE) maintains that the war between Russia and Ukraine has generated “a scenario of suspense and pessimism about the future of international trade”.
“Both are part of the ‘top ten’ of the countries that produce fertilizers that are so necessary to ensure a good harvest of agricultural products,” it says on its website.
And for Ecuador, both countries are fundamental, especially for the export of banana: «To Russia we allocate, depending on the season of the year, between 20% and 25%, and to Ukraine 3%».
“Then we are talking about 30% of the volume that is exported weekly, and because of this conflict they will be in danger of being sold normally and at a good price.” price«, warns the AEBE when recalling that in 2021, the export of banana to Russia represented $697.65 million and $79.39 million to Ukraine
“Necessarily, if this conflict continues, the Ecuadorian government will have to take urgent measures so that the producing sector, especially the banana sector, does not endanger its sustainability,” warns the association, while, in the midst of so much uncertainty, Alava asserted that the Government remains unstoppable in the search for new buyers
According to a preliminary estimate by the Federation of Exporters of Ecuador (Fedexpor), between banana and flower industrythe losses left by the war It is already approaching $100 million. These losses not only include exports that were left without a market, but also sales made that cannot be collected.
For more than a week, and to avoid most detrimental impacts for small producers in both income and employment, the Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec) is buying between 300,000 and 600,000 bunches of the fruit that can no longer be placed on the Russian and Ukrainian markets, but will be used for other purposes within the country. (EFE-JS)
