According to the Association of Banana Marketing and Export of Ecuador (Acorbanec), banana buyers from the EU and other markets are reluctant to pay the increase in the minimum support price of the banana box in Ecuador, which is paid to producers, after it rose from USD 6.50 in 2022 to USD 6.85 per box agreed on November 6, 2023. The Ministry of Agriculture made the price official on November 13 with Ministerial Agreement 089.

Fruit exports from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador could be affected by restrictions on the Panama Canal. Shipping lines will have lower cargo capacity and handle stricter itineraries. It is due to the drought, which has reduced the number of transits and the maximum draught allowed. In the last quarter of the year, the outlook for reefer container transport has weakened, and cargo demand is expected to register a second consecutive year of decline.

According to Netafim, an agricultural technology company, Colombia has 40,000 million arable hectares, and today, 5.3 million are exploited, representing 13% of the planted area in the country. Given its obvious importance for food security, and with the imminent arrival of El Niño, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, headed by its minister Jhenifer Mojica, has allocated $63,000 million for farmers who want to make improvements or build irrigation and drainage systems, and thus foresee declines in their production.

Indicators such as the Drewry World Container Index have continued to fall. Now, Xeneta, the freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform, warns that it sees an "ominous sign for carriers," as long-term contracted rates continue to slide. "The warning signs were already there, but the latest data from Xeneta suggests 2024 could be even more brutal than expected for carriers in the ocean freight shipping market," the company writes in its latest market analysis.

The reports of road openings in Panama are coming after learning of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) ruling that declared the mining contract unconstitutional, which caused protests by the population for many weeks. Cargo carriers are already mobilizing in Colón, Chiriquí, and Panama, while in Veraguas, they will already be reopening because they closed again due to a concentration, SNIP Noticias reported.

Imported 17,035 tons of bananas from Ecuador from January through September 2023, which is an 11-percent decrease compared to the same period in 2022 (19,239 tons), Trend reports. According to data from Kyrgyzstan's State Statistical Committee, these imports totalled $10.251 million, representing an eight per cent increase over the same period in 2022 ($9.490 million).

In Guatemala, the first International Forum of the Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) and Fusarium Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) was held, in which experts sought strategies to prevent and control these diseases that threaten global banana production. Participants highlighted that the Foc TR4 has affected 23 banana-producing countries worldwide.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retrmt SYS grew its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce shares by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,725 company stock shares after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter.

Vado Gateway and Reefer Terminal announce that the regional investment manager for the Americas of APM Terminals, Santi Casciano, has been appointed the new CEO of the two terminals in Vado Ligure (Savona) with effect from December 15.

As of December 1, Argentine importers of Bolivian bananas were supposed to pay off the entire debt of $ 12 million in the US, and to date, they have yet to do so. According to the agreement signed before the general elections, it was established that 1 million dollars would be deposited daily until the debt was completed to lift the blockade that was being carried out in Yacuiba. $US $3 million had been paid initially, and the rest was agreed to be paid in instalments.

About 1,000 hectares of banana plantations located in the village of Isletas, in Sonaguera, Colón, Honduras, were reclaimed on November 23 after peasant groups invaded them a month ago. The eviction of the 300 families who had taken the land was peaceful and obeyed an order of a judge in Tegucigalpa after executives of the agricultural company Santa Inés, a subsidiary of Standard Fruit of Honduras, owner of the farms, filed the corresponding complaint.

The Association of Banana Producer Organizations of the Canary Islands (ASPROCAN) has awarded Leopoldo Cólogan the Honorary Insignia of Plátano de Canarias in recognition and gratitude for his work in defence of the sector in his career, highlighting his position as:

Danish shipping company A.P. Moller Maersk's green methanol arm C2X has bought land in Huelva, southern Spain, to build a green methanol facility with a potential capacity of 1 million metric tons/year, C2X said in a recent statement. The production facility will be located in the port of Huelva. The green methanol will be supplied to the shipping sector as a bunker fuel.

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