THE Philippines was the second-largest exporter of Cavendish bananas for the second consecutive year in 2019, with total shipments reaching a record high 4 million metric tons (MMT), the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
However, industry stakeholders sounded the alarm that it may be difficult to surpass or even match the sector’s performance last year due to a number of factors, including the spread of the dreaded Fusarium wilt to other banana plantations.
“Thanks to the significant recovery in supplies in 2018 and 2019, the Philippines regained its place as second-largest global exporter of bananas behind Ecuador, accounting for an estimated 20 percent of global shipments in 2019,” the FAO said in its preliminary annual report on global banana markets published recently.
The FAO estimated that Philippine Cavendish exports last year expanded by 17 percent to an “unprecedented record” of almost 4 MMT, from the 3.38 MMT posted in 2018.
The rise in Philippine Cavendish exports caused Asia’s shipments last year to go up by 18 percent to 4.5 MMT, from 3.8 MMT in 2018, according to the FAO report.
“The rise is primarily due to another year of strong production growth in the Philippines,” it said. “The Philippines ranks as the largest exporter in the region, accounting for approximately 90 percent of total export volumes from Asia.”
The country’s Cavendish exports from January to November 2019 reached 3.963 MMT, eclipsing the previous record shipment of 3.631 MMT in 2014, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed. This is the first time that the country’s Cavendish exports reached the 4 MMT-mark.
Based on PSA data analyzed by the BusinessMirror, total Cavendish exports in 2019 may breach 4 MMT and hit 4.3 MMT at a monthly shipment of 360,000 metric tons.
Ecuador remained the world’s top exporter of Cavendish bananas last year. The FAO estimated that its total shipments reached 6.685 MMT.
‘Difficult year’
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) said the industry has been grappling with a number of challenges even before China—the country’s top market for Cavendish—stopped buying Philippine bananas following the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus.
PBGEA Executive Director Stephen A. Antig said his group estimates that Fusarium wilt, or Panama disease, has already affected about 30,000 hectares to 40,000 hectares of banana plantations in Mindanao.
Antig also disclosed that the Philippines’s market share in Japan and South Korea—two other top buyers of Cavendish bananas—continues to shrink amid stiff competition from Latin American countries that can export the fruit at lower tariffs.
Data from the governments of Japan and South Korea indicated that their purchases of Philippines bananas in Japan fell by 0.20 percent and 13.67 percent, respectively.
The country’s banana output in 2019 fell to a three-year low of 9.157 MMT as fewer fruits were harvested in small and large farms in Davao region due to the Panama disease. Also, pests and diseases slashed production in Central Visayas and Zamboanga del Norte, according to the PSA.
“It’s definitely going to be a difficult year. Even before the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak (nCoV) started we already have a lot of problems,” he told the BusinessMirror in a phone interview.
“If we cannot fulfill their [buyers] orders based on the agreed volume, then definitely they will source their supply from other countries,” he added.
The local banana sector’s situation may be aggravated by the slowdown in China’s economic activity due to the outbreak of nCoV, which has prompted buyers to stop ordering Philippine bananas.
Antig said Chinese buyers have started canceling orders last week. This could cause the industry to lose an estimated $5.5 million a week.
China has been the country’s top Cavendish market in the past two years after it ended Japan’s 30-year reign as top buyer in 2018.
From January to November 2019, China imported 1.43 MMT of Cavendish from the Philippines, higher than the 1.051 MMT recorded in 2018, according to PSA data.
Antig said PBGEA is now looking at other areas in Mindanao where banana can planted.
“We’re having a difficult time [finding alternative plantations] because no one wants to venture or invest in Muslim areas because of the issue on security of land tenure and the terms and conditions [set] by land owners,” he said.