The year 2024 did not start on the right foot for the banana sector. It is the second half of January, and producers and exporters still need to comply with the registration of the fruit export contract this year as stipulated by the Banana Law. They are far from reaching 100% of the hectares registered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (M.A.G.). The head of this Ministry, Danilo Palacios, reveals the current situation and how to face this problem caused by the spot price and the new dynamics of the world market that has marked the sector in the last three years.

Fire, drought, and landslides generate risks in different areas of this South American country. On Wednesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared a "natural disaster situation" to mobilize resources and address the impacts caused by the El Niño phenomenon, which has triggered fires and drought in this South American country. "We have had over 500 fires, and there are 60 municipalities experiencing water stress.

The Paraguayan Chamber of Bananas and Pineapples (Capabap) stated that how Argentina intends to settle the debt with producers through the bond for the Reconstruction of a Free Argentina (Bopreal) is not viable and that on Monday, January 29, they will have a meeting with local authorities to analyze another means of payment.

President Daniel Noboa has launched a 60-day state of emergency, a nighttime curfew, and a military offensive against criminal groups he has designated as terrorists. Ecuador's President on January 22 said he is seeking financial support from the U.S. and Europe, as well as extending output from an oil block that was voted to be shut down, as he looks to free up funds to fight organized crime.

In addition to the 22 tons of drugs found on a banana farm in Vinces, in Los Ríos, there was also the discovery of an arsenal for military use, thousands of ammunitions. A banana farm was the hideout of the largest drug shipment found in Ecuador. The Armed Forces servants detailed it. At least 22 tons of drugs were seen at the site located in Vinces (Los Ríos province), a seizure considered historic.

Colombia's Minister of Agriculture, Jhenifer Mojica, weighed in on how the government intends to address the problem Colombian banana growers face in the European Union. Recently, banana unions in the country said that a request from European supermarkets to pay a lower price for national bananas would generate widely negative impacts for the sector.

Reefer vessel Ditlev Reefer, operated by Cool Carrier, has been loading around 2,500 pallets of Chilean fruit at the Port of Valparaiso on what would be its second voyage from Chile to the U.S. for the 2023-2024 fruit season for the East Coast market. Once it departs from the T.P.S. Terminal in Valparaiso on January 27, the vessel will call at the Port of Caldera in the Atacama Region to complete the loading bound for Gloucester in New Jersey.

The world’s first large methanol-enabled container vessel has been named "Ane Mærsk" at a ceremony in the shipyard of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) in Ulsan, South Korea. The vessel is named after Ane Mærsk McKinney Uggla, the Chair of the A.P. Moller Foundation and A.P. Moller Holding. Ane’s eldest granddaughter served as godmother and christened the vessel by breaking a champagne bottle over the bow.

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The situation in and around the Red Sea / Gulf of Aden remains volatile. Our priority remains the safety of our seafarers, vessels, and your cargo. With this in mind, we are making changes to our ME2 service, as outlined below. These changes will have the benefit of offering you greater predictability and reliability for your supply chain in this challenging environment.

Hapag-Lloyd AG (Hapag-Lloyd) and Maersk A/S, an entity under A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk), have signed an agreement for a new long-term operational collaboration called "Gemini Cooperation", which will start in February 2025. "Teaming up with Maersk will help us to further boost the quality we deliver to our customers. Additionally, we will benefit from efficiency gains in our operations and joint efforts to further accelerate the decarbonisation of our industry," says Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.

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.

Cool Carriers' Ivar Reefer vessel kicked off the Cool Carriers' Chilean grape season on the U.S. West Coast on December 31. Departing from the Port of Coquimbo on January 3, the Ivar Reefer fruit arrived at the Port of Los Angeles this week, carrying more than 5,300 pallets of grapes and stone fruit. The Port is currently the only U.S. West Coast port receiving specialised refrigerated cargo ships that have palletised fruit from this South American agricultural hub.

A representation of European Banana and Plátano de Canarias, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Madeira recently met to analyse the economic crisis 2023. Producers from the three E.U. countries agreed that the leading causes of their situation are "the increase in production costs, up to 30% in many cases in just two years; climate change; the unequal E.U. regulations in social, environmental and food safety conditions, which increasingly favour the production of third countries, and the use of imported bananas as a distribution brand as opposed to the application of much higher margins to European production".

The Minister of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, Limber Cruz, delivered approximately eight (8) million pesos to several members of the Association of Pineapple Producers of Cevicos, Sánchez Ramírez province, who suffered losses with the past rains in November. Pedro Suárez, from the Association of Pineapple Producers, thanked President Luis Abinader and Minister Limber Cruz for the quick support provided to the sector and said that they will immediately return to production to guarantee exports and local consumption.