THE country’s banana exports from January to April nosedived by 50 percent to 739,510.309 metric tons (MT) as the industry continued to reel from anemic domestic production worsened by global shipping and logistical problems.
The volume was 750,476.686 MT lower than the 1.489 million MT recorded export volume during the same four-month period of last year, latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.
PSA data showed that export receipts from banana shipments during the reference period plunged by 46.9 percent to $329.271 million from last year’s $620.626 million.
Japan remained as the country’s top destination for banana exports, accounting for 40 percent of the total shipments during the four-month period.
Philippine banana exports to Japan, however, declined by 45.35 percent to 277,300.010 MT from 507,447.809 MT last year, based on PSA data.
In terms of value, banana shipments to Japan during the four-month period reached $138.634 million, 44.4 percent lower than last year’s $249.545 million.
The country’s banana exports to China also suffered a double-digit contraction rate. Volume wise, banana exports to China declined by 37.23 percent to 263,399.572 MT while value of shipments fell by 35.9 percent to $110.771 million.
PSA data showed that banana exports to South Korea declined by 53.58 percent to 88,801.342 MT while shipments to Saudi Arabia declined by 48.29 percent to 33,253.714 MT.
PSA data also showed that banana exports to Iran declined by 93 percent to 10,083.964 MT from last year’s 145,896.833 MT.
The BusinessMirror earlier reported that the anemic domestic output due to the worsening Panama disease situation is the major culprit for the decline in the country’s banana exports. (Related story:https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/22/phl-banana-exports-plunge-by-51-in-jan/)
This was worsened by Covid-19-related mobility restrictions as well as the ongoing global shipping problems that have driven shipping costs to unprecedented levels.
The rise in shipping costs has also cut the profit of the banana industry by double-digit rates. For example, the cost of shipping a container of bananas to Saudi Arabia has increased to $3,000 in April from the usual $2,600 quotation. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/04/05/costs-delays-cut-phl-banana-exporters-profit/)
“You can assume by the same amount of the increase in shipping costs—about 15 percent reduction,” Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association Chairman Alberto F. Bacani, who is also the President & CEO of Unifrutti Tropical Philippines Inc., told the BusinessMirror in April.
The increase in freight costs and falling domestic production have put the Philippines in a tighter corner against its rising Vietnamese and Cambodian competitors in securing market share in the growing Chinese market.
Trade map data of the multilateral International Trade Centre analyzed by the BusinessMirror showed that the Philippines’s market share for bananas in China, Japan, and South Korea has been shrinking in recent years, as domestic exporters have warned. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/05/04/phl-bananas-losing-out-in-asia-to-latin-america-asean-producers/)
Banana exports last year declined by almost a fifth to a 2-year low of 3.595 million MT as shipments across all key markets contracted due to weak domestic production.