Shake-up in banana import ranking

Here's an update on banana imports from Fruitnet.com:  

Russia and the European Union have overtaken the US to become the largest banana importers during the first six months of 2008

The US has fallen from second to fourth place in the global banana import ranking after Russia and the EU sourced larger volumes of the fruit from January to June 2008, according to the Ecuadorean Banana Exporters’ Association (AEBE).

Russia accounted for 23.82 per cent (or 32.6m boxes) of the 136.9m boxes of bananas exported during the first six months of the year, followed in second place by the Mediterranean region (including Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey), with Belgium, Germany and Poland combined sharing the third spot.

The US imported 18.97 per cent of global volumes, or 25.9m boxes, during the same period, pushing the country down to fourth place in the ranking.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Ledesma, director of AEBE, added that Ecuador is losing market share in both the US and Europe.

“The US market is increasingly sourcing fewer volumes of bananas from Ecuador in favour of fruit from more aggressive suppliers such as Costa Rica and Guatemala,” he explained.

Ecuador has also shipped 8 per cent fewer volumes to the EU so far this year in comparison to the year-earlier period.

The South American country is currently lobbying the EU to reduce the €176-per tonne import tariff imposed on Latin American bananas, which Ecuador claims is negatively affecting exports to the region.

EU 15 Rice Imports 1995-2008

In 1995, shipments of rice arriving to the 15 member state countries of the European Union represented 600,000 metric tons; 12 years later, imports reached nearly 1,400,000 MT.

The following table shows that between 2003 and 2007, imports have increased by 6% annually, from 1,08 to 1,37 million tons. A sharp increase took place between 2006 and 2007, due to higher volumes supplied by Thailand, India and Uruguay. However the first four months of 2008 are showing a somehow different picture: Thai shipments have slowed down, while rice from the US have recovered its lost ground in 2007.

In 2007, Thailand supplied 31% of all rice imported by the EU, while India's share stood at 26%. Important gains by Uruguay have put this origin in front of Pakistan and Guyana, and controlled 10% of all shipments in 2007.

EU-15 Tomato Imports

The demand for non-European tomatoes has dramatically increased in 2007, growing from 250,000 to more than 330,000 metric tonnes in one year only.

In 2007, close to 90% of all imported tomatoes were supplied by Morocco, followed by Israel (7%) and Senegal (2%).
Tomato imports are counter-seasonal, meaning that shipments from abroad enter the EU market when the European production is non-existent. During the last 36 months, we can observe that imports usually take place between October and May, and that the peak period is in January/February.
In 2007, more than 80% of all tomato imports entered the EU-15 territories through France, while 8% of shipments passed through Spain.

EU Imports of Kiwis

Between 1998 and 2007, the yearly amounts of imported kiwis have grown from 170,000 to more than 250,000 metric tonnes.

In 2007, 64% of all kiwi shipments in the EU 15 countries were originating from New Zealand, while the balance came from Chile (35%).

In 2007, the season for imported kiwis started in early May and finished in November, the remaining of the year being supplied by European producers (Italy). Imports from New Zealand spread from May until November, while Chilean products were mainly present between May and August. During May and June, shipments reached more than 50,000 tonnes per month.

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