Ecuador’s banana producers have increased their export sales to Europe and their Latin American neighbours, while they are also gaining a greater foothold in Middle Eastern markets.
According to information from the country’s central bank, Ecuadorian banana exports to the European Union (EU) and South America’s southern cone – comprising Chile, Uruguay and Argentina – increased during the first four months of this year compared with the same period a year before.
The country’s exporters also achieved greater success between January and April this year in the Middle East, with Ecuador said to have indirectly benefited from a poor banana harvest in the Philippines, reported Ecuadorian daily El Comercio.
During the first four months of 2010, the central bank said that 17 of the 27 countries that form the EU imported US$354 (€282m) worth of Ecuadorian bananas compared with US$278m (€221m) during the same period a year before.
Sales to nearby Argentina, Chile and Uruguay also increased. According to the figures, the countries imported a total of US$33.7m (€26.8m) worth of bananas from Ecuador during the trimester – seven times more than during the same stage of 2009.
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