Intense competition in the liner industry is driving carriers to try and differentiate their business through technology or service developments. So far year, Seoul announced funds to attach internet-connected devices to allow Korean exporters to track containers, a service Hapag-Lloyd and forwarder Kuehne+Nagel also announced. At the same time, Maersk told its cold chain customers technology could help save energy on reefer boxes.

Banana selling prices in St Petersburg were around USD 23.95-24.60 per box CIF according to brand, quality, and volume. Demand was good and nearly 1.75 million boxes were discharged in week eight, and around 2.2 million are expected for week 9. The exchange rate USD/RUB was 1 USD=74.71 Ruble. Prices in the Mediterranean were USD 17.00-19.00 per box CIF for Ecuadorian bananas according to region, volume, brand, and weight of the box.

Fruit and vegetable exports recorded positive signals in the early part of the year, reaching US$300 million in January, up 3% on-year. This promises to be a great help to the sector in realizing its goal of US$4 billion in revenue this year, an annual surge of 20%.

Ocean Network Express (ONE), the world's seventh-largest shipping line, has announced plans to equip its container fleet with "smart" technology. ONE has partnered with Sony Network Communications Europe to develop and integrate the technology. The intelligent container solution will help to give ONE greater insight into their container fleet by boosting visibility into container movements. Customers can also access live updates throughout a shipment's journey.

The Polish company Citronex, one of the largest importers and distributors of bananas in Europe, is developing their activities in Romania. The investment of a 50Ha greenhouse for tomato production was confirmed on January 17th by local authorities in Dumbrăveni, Sibiu County. "The investment will be made in several stages. The first 10 ha of a greenhouse will cost approximately 25 million euros and generate 120 jobs.

Inspired by classic Disney characters, Dole's "Fruit Love" initiative centres on beloved fruit tastes, dishes, and memories. The five-month initiative continues with downloadable assets plus new fruit-based comfort and DIY baby food recipes. The Fruit Love campaign launched with recipes, digital downloads and social interactions celebrating apples, bananas, strawberries, pineapples, peaches, pears and other farm-fresh favourites and their roles in many memorable dishes.

In 2022, Ecuador completed another year without Fusarium Race 4 (FocTR4) in its territory. The plague was detected in 2019 in Colombia (in the Guajira sector), in April 2021 in Peru (Piura) and Venezuela confirmed the presence of the fungus on January 19. The plague has not entered Ecuadorian territories yet, and from the public and private sectors, new initiatives are planned for this year so that it continues like this. The Ecuadorian Center for Biotechnological Research (CIBE - Espol), which celebrated its twentieth anniversary on January 27, presented three projects.

Fusarium Race 4 -TR4- is again setting off alerts in the region after it was confirmed in Venezuela, the third country in Latin America after Colombia and Peru. Ecuador remains free of the pest, as confirmed on January 26 by the Agency for Regulation and Phytosanitary and Zoo-sanitary Control (Agrocalidad).

From the 354.6 million boxes of bananas exported between January and December 2022 from Ecuador, 64.64% were exported from the port of Guayaquil. According to data provided by the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (Aebe), the port became Ecuador's main banana export point.

A small working group would be formed to promote the export of Indian bananas, mainly traditional varieties and value-added fruit products, said M. Angamuthu, Chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). India was the largest producer of bananas in the world, yet it had a negligible share in the global banana trade and exported the fruit to just about 15 countries. Banana export could be increased by reaching out to the United States and European countries.

The company said that French-based shipping group CMA CGM had completed its withdrawal from the Russian market by divesting stakes in terminals through an asset swap. "With this finalized transaction and the decision to suspend all new bookings to and from Russia since March 1, 2022, the CMA CGM Group will no longer be involved in any entities operating in Russia," it said in an emailed statement.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced on January 3 that he had "successfully concluded" the FTA with China, an agreement that will allow Ecuadorian "industries" to "acquire machinery and inputs at lower costs." The negotiation with Ecuador's second trading partner lasted ten months, and now they are working to sign one with the United States. The treaty with Beijing will represent an increase of up to 20% in national exports to the Chinese market.

Conventional reefer ships that played a critical role in shipping perishables during the pandemic could be forced into retirement by new International Maritime Organization (IMO) pollution regulations. Dutch consultancy Dynamar says the carbon intensity indicator (CII) and energy efficiency of existing ships (EEXI) rules will force the ageing conventional fleet to slow to speeds that won't meet market requirements for perishable goods.

Banana selling prices in Russia were USD 18.00-18.75 per box CIF. Demand for the fruit was weak, and large volumes of bananas were available in the market. Nearly 700,000 boxes were discharged in week 51, and around 2.08 million are expected for week 52. The exchange rate of USD/RUB was 1 USD=72.13 RUBLE. The year-over-year inflation rate in Russia was measured at 12.6 percent for the week ending December 12, 2022, up from 12.5 percent in the previous week.

While the grand final of the World Cup was taking place between Argentina and France, the "CMA CGM Argentina" docked at the D.P. World port of Guayaquil in Posorja, the vessel with the largest capacity and dimension that has ever arrived in Ecuador, thus breaking a new record. This container ship, built in 2019, has a capacity of more than 15,000 TEUs and a length of 366 meters.