Recent publicity surrounding the Philippines' banana export problems to China has hampered the country in its bid to develop new markets, reports Freshplaza.com.

Potential new banana markets are now aware of the Philippines' needs to diversify and seem willing to exploit the situation by offering lower prices for produce, the article said.

'These countries have gotten wind of the incident in China. They know we have excess output here. They keep on haggling down to lowest price possible,' Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association president Steve Antig is quoted as saying.

Antig was part of the mission to seek out new markets and said that several deals had been sealed, although terms have not necessarily met expectations.

'We’re out there for business. We’ve considered offers and most of them are break-even only. We’re not sure how long we can keep up with this setup,' he said.

The trade mission visited Dubai, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. Antig said there was a likelihood of another mission before the end of the year.

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