Banana selling prices in St Petersburg according to brand, quality, volume, and packing were USD 24.55-25.70 per box CIF. Nearly 954.000 boxes were discharged in week 3, and around 1.73 million boxes are expected for week 4. The exchange rate was 1 USD=88.59 RUB. The yearly inflation was 7.4 %, according to official data.

Prices in the Mediterranean were USD 16.00-18.00 per box CIF for the Ecuadorian bananas according to volume, region, packing and quality.

They were considerably higher in Libya, around USD 20.00-21.00 per box CIF for the Ecuadorian fruit and around USD 18.00-19.00 per box CIF for Central American or Colombian bananas.

Due to the large quantity of licenses issued by the government to traders in Algeria, the market was oversupplied, and importers incurred losses of USD 2.00-3.00 per box.

Prices in the Mersin market were lower than the last week due to the reduced demand. There were around USD 15.50-18.00 per box offers for re-exported bananas of Ecuadorian origin, depending on brand, quality, packing, and weight. Due to the problematic sales, Iranian or Iraqi traders were offered to sell the fruit on commission. Central American and Colombian bananas sold at around USD 2.00 less per box.

The Turkish Lira hit a fresh record low on January 19, trading at 30.19 to the U.S. dollar.

The beleaguered currency has fallen 37% against the U.S. benchmark over the past year. In the country, inflation of roughly 84 million rose to 64.8% annually in December, up from 62% in November. It's still an improvement from the prior year after Turkish inflation peaked at 85.5% in October 2022.

Sales in the Iranian domestic market were slow like the past week, and the price was around 55.000 Toman per kg for Ecuadorian and Philippine bananas and about 40.000-43.000 Toman early in the week but rose to 45.000 48.000 Toman per kg for Indian bananas.  The exchange rate was 1 USD=54.000 Toman. 

Demand slowed in the local market due to people's low spending power caused by the devaluation of the local currency. Indian banana prices are still high and fluctuate around USD 9.00-9.25 per box of 13.50 kg CIF Bandar Abbas. 

A chartered vessel will call Bushehr on January 23 with about 200,000 banana boxes from Davao. Banana exports from the Philippines to Iran will decrease during the next two weeks. Sumifru vessels will not call at Bushehr, and only Unifrutti ships will remain on the route.

The Ecuadorian spot market prices were USD 10.00-12.50 per box only for the fruit during the week. However, sales were also at slightly lower or higher levels depending on the day of the week, the quality of the fruit, the region, and the volumes.

Considering the high prices, some exporters purchased lower volumes or took only the fruit under contract.

The Cool Carriers vessels of the liner service with St. Petersburg were reported delayed; one was expected for Friday and the other for Monday of the coming week. No banana fixtures were put on record during the week.

The positive news for specialised reefer vessels' owners or operators was that South Africa required more ships to add to the ones already employed for the grapes and other fruit trade. A medium-sized vessel was chartered to add to the ones already used in the trade. More shipments are expected once the grape and deciduous fruit export end and the citrus season starts later, around April.

According to industry sources, volumes of fruit in Chile were around 25-30% lower than previous years but are expected to increase later in February.

There were some fixtures in the fish trade, and one medium-sized vessel fixed a cargo of pasta in Iskanderun for a port in Venezuela.

Squid got back to the Southern Atlantic, and with good prospects for the catch season, according to reports from Argentina that also announced the launching of an aggressive vigilant and monitoring campaign between the Navy and Coast Guard to check on the estimated 350 Asian jiggers next to the 201 plus mile don't slip into the Argentine EEZ. Since Sunday, the Argentine jiggers' fleet moved to parallel 44South, ESEast of Puerto Camarones, and north of the San Jorge Gulf with daily squid catches to 45 tons of good-sized commercial specimens. The Specialised Reefer Vessels Procyon, Frío Poseidón, the Scout in the Falklands, and Ning Tai Leng 8 from China have already been reported.

Time Charter rates for larger vessels were U.S. Cents 60-70 per cbft per month, and U.S. Cents 50-60 per cbft per month for smaller ships, depending on trade.

Bunker prices:       

                                VLSFO                      MGO       

Gibraltar                    $606.50                     $887.00 

Rotterdam                 $546.50                     $762.50

Panama Canal         $593.00                     $1048.00