The Ecuadorian banana is entering South Korea with force. From January to May, it almost tripled its shipments, an unprecedented growth of 276%. The Asian country went from buying 532,000 boxes of fruit in the first five months of 2023 to just over 2 million boxes in the same period this year, according to the latest figures from the Association of Marketing and Export of Bananas of Ecuador (Acorbanec).

Exports to South Korea are part of the 160.45 million boxes of bananas that Ecuador exported in that period to all destinations, which, however, represented a drop of 1.46%.

Multinationals demanded more bananas in Ecuador due to low production in Central America and Colombia. The head of Acorbanec projects that Ecuadorian bananas' growth in the South Korean market will be maintained in the long term, even though Ecuadorian fruit currently pays a 30% tariff to enter that market.

'The official signing of the agreement with South Korea is scheduled for the second half of 2024.

The head of Acorbanec is hopeful for further growth, especially with the future trade agreement between Ecuador and South Korea. This agreement, set to be officially signed in the second half of 2024, was pre-signed in October 2023 in Seoul. Once in effect, the SECA (Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement) will see the tariff on Ecuadorian bananas decrease by 6% annually, reaching a 0% tariff in 2030. Algeria and the United States also demanded more Ecuadorian bananas.