The value of the country’s banana exports from January to April fell by 6.4 percent to $618.57 million from $660.52 million last year, preliminary trade data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The total worth of banana exports declined despite a 2-percent increase in volume of shipments during the four-month period, data also showed.
During the reference period, data showed, the country exported 1.486 million metric tons of bananas compared to the 1.458 MMT shipped in the same period of last year.
Japan was the country’s top buyer of bananas as it accounted for 40 percent of the total worth of bananas exported during the reference period, data showed.
The Philippines exported $247.792 million worth of bananas to Japan, which was 11 percent over the $223.221 million worth of shipment it made in the January-to-April period of 2019, PSA data showed.
PSA data showed that the country shipped 504,124.669 MT of bananas to Japan, which was 13.5 percent over the 444,162.152 MMT recorded volume last year.
China was the second-biggest buyer of Philippine bananas during the four-month period as it cornered 34.1 percent of total export volume.
The country’s banana exports to China declined by 22.5 percent to 419,411.191 MT from 541,182.695 MT last year, PSA data showed.
In terms of value, banana shipments to China fell by 25.9 percent to $172.814 million from last year’s $233.349 million, PSA data also showed.
Philippine banana exports to South Korea, the country’s third- largest market, declined by 8.5 percent to $86.682 million from $94.76 million, according to PSA data.
PSA data also showed that the volume of bananas shipped to South Korea shrank by 8 percent to 191,117.483 MT from 207,654,198 MT.
In May, Filipino banana exporters told the BusinessMirror that they expect banana shipments to drop by as much as 40 percent in terms of volume this year as output is drastically reduced by Fusarium wilt and climate change, with the aggravating impact of Covid-19 on trade.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) Executive Director Stephen A. Antig said the 40-percent reduction is a worst-case scenario, considering the extent of damage to plantations by Fusarium wilt, or Panama disease, coupled by the drought experienced in Mindanao.
Antig estimates that 20 percent of the country’s area planted to bananas have been damaged by Panama disease. As of March, he said, the disease has already affected about 30,000 hectares to 40,000 hectares of banana plantations in Mindanao.
Worse, Antig said, the unfavorable weather conditions, particularly the drought in Mindanao, is adversely affecting local banana production.
He explained that the lack of rainfall, which should have started already, he noted, would impact small and medium growers without access to irrigation facilities.
“[The 40-percent reduction] is possible. And I hope it is already the worst-case scenario,” Antig told the BusinessMirror in a phone interview in May.
Banana production in the first quarter fell to its lowest level in four years, as Fusarium wilt affected over 30,000 hectares of banana plantations and reduced output by 2.43 percent year-on-year to 2.063 million MT.
PSA data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that banana output from January to March declined by 51,389.60 MT, from last year’s 2.114 MMT.
Historical PSA data showed that this is the lowest first quarter output for the fruit in four years since the 2.048 MMT recorded in 2016.
“The main reason for the decline would be Fusarium wilt,” Antig said.