By: Noel L. Colina IV
DAVAO CITY – The export volume of Philippine Cavendish bananas to China dropped by 33 percent for the first four months of 2017 compared to the same period of 2016.
Based on the data released by the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), exports from January to April 2017 were only pegged at 29,590 metric tons (MT) while 44,379 MT was recorded for the same period last year.
PBGEA executive director Stephen Antig said they have already foreseen the drop after the production of all major banana producers in the country was severely hit by a long dry spell last year.
He said that the China and other traditional global markets have also started sourcing bananas from other banana-producing countries like the Latin America.
Antig added that China has also imported bananas from its closest neighbors Vietnam and Indonesia.
Based on the PGEA data, China bought 107,489 MT of bananas for the entire year of 2016, but this was lower compared to the 2015 with 155,914 MT.
China is the country’s 4th biggest buyer of bananas, with Japan being the biggest in 2016 with 550,079 MT, Middle East with 403,259 MT, South Korea with 224,192MT.
