THE Philippines may have ended its six-year reign as the world’s second largest banana exporter last year as preliminary estimates by the United Nations indicated that the country has been outrivaled by Guatemala amid faltering production.
In its latest preliminary report, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projected that the Philippines dropped to the third place last year in terms of banana exports as its shipments declined by nearly 3 percent year-on-year to 2.206 million metric tons (MMT). The Philippines exported 2.272 MMT of bananas in 2022.
With its estimated full-year exports last year, the Philippines was overtaken by Guatemala, which the FAO projected to have exported a total of 2.415 MMT of bananas last year.
It should be noted that the projections made by the FAO were only preliminary, with its full-year export estimates being based on the figures reported by countries as of September 2023. The FAO also made the projections using country responses to its 2023 questionnaire as well as secondary data and information from its desk research.
It may be recalled that in the FAO’s preliminary report last year it projected that Guatemala has already stripped the Philippines of its status as world’s second largest banana exporter in 2022 but was revised in its final report issued in July last year. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/01/26/phl-loses-no-2-spot-for-banana-exporters/)
If the FAO’s latest forecast for the global banana market last year materializes, then the Philippines snaps its six-year rule as the world’s second largest banana exporter, a status that it regained in 2017, based on FAO historical data.
Based on FAO’s estimates, Ecuador remained as the world’s top banana exporter last year with a total volume shipment of 6.193 MMT.
Pest, logistics challenges
The FAO explained that it projected the drop in the Philippines’s banana exports last year due to the “devastating spread” of Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 disease across plantations.
“The main exporter from the [Asian] region continues to be the Philippines, which supplies some 60 percent of Asian banana shipments on average but has seen production severely affected by the spread of TR4 in the country,” it said.
“According to information released by the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association in April 2023, approximately 15,000 plantations in the Philippines are affected by TR4, causing grave concern about the prospects for the country’s banana industry in 2023 and beyond,” it added.
FAO also noted that Philippine banana exporters faced logistical problems last year that affected the quality of Filipino bananas being shipped to key markets, particularly Japan.
“While demand for bananas in [Japan] remained relatively stable, import quantities were reduced by the production shortages experienced in the Philippines, from where Japan typically sources some 75 to 80 percent of its banana imports.”
The Philippines has been facing stiffer competition from both Latin American and Asian banana producers, resulting in the erosion of its market share in key importing countries. Aside from pests that have been hampering domestic production, the Philippines has been grappling with higher tariff rates slapped on its bananas compared to other exporters as well as logistical issues. (Related stories: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/11/01/phl-bananas-losing-global-market-share/ and https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/10/24/exec-logistics-woes-crimp-banana-shipments-to-japan/)
Image credits: Jimbo Albano