Summary of the main banana exporters in the Philippines, during the 1st Semester of 2023. Note that the Growers/Exporters have been arranged in group: Dizon Group: FS Dizon&Sons, FranPac Agri-Business,Inc. and Highland Agri-Venture, Lorenzo Group: Lapanday Agri. & Dev. Corp., Lead Export, Lapanday Foods Corp / Anflo Group: Tagum Agr. Dev.Co., Anflo Banana Corp. (Worldwide Dev. Corp.) / Stanfilco a Div of Dole Phils.

Due to the “unsustainable rate levels” reached on the Transatlantic trade, CMA CGM announced adjustments on its rates, effective from November for all Transatlantic westbound lines. The origin range includes all ports in North Europe, including North France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, Poland, Baltic, Portugal, Spain (Bilbao, Vigo, Gijon), all Mediterranean ports, including Malta, South France, Italy, Spain (Algeciras, Valencia, Barcelona, Sagunto), Adriatic, Black Sea, North Africa, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and excluding Egypt.

Dole Food Company joined forces with the Charlotte Hornets today for the inaugural “Hugo’s PE Power-Up presented by Dole” event at Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Windsor Park Elementary School. The initiative is part of both companies’ ongoing commitment to promote healthy eating habits and active lifestyles among students and their families. Throughout the day, students in kindergarten through fifth grades enjoyed an enriching and educational experience.

Shippers are given preliminary carbon pricing as European legislation aimed to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 approaches. The E.U. Emissions Trading System will apply to the shipping sector starting January 1, 2024, requiring ocean carriers to monitor and report their carbon emissions. By the end of the year, carriers purchase an equal amount of emission "allowances," where one allowance counts for one ton of CO2.

Demand for bananas continued to be weak in St Petersburg and prices were very different during the week, according to quality, brand, volume, and type of packing, ranging from USD 18.30 to USD 20.90 per box CIF. Due to the delay of one of the regular container liner vessels, expected for week 42 and now scheduled for week 43, only 994,000 boxes were discharged, and almost 2.2 million boxes will be discharged in week 43.

Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments Managing Head of the Philippines Cerefino Rodolfo said in a recent briefing that many countries had expressed the desire to enter into a trade deal with Manila. On September 7, the Department of Trade and Industry officially signed an FTA with South Korea – the Philippines' third bilateral pact – at the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The president-elect of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, is expected to start his mandate on November 20, as announced, and the outgoing president, Guillermo Lasso, invited him to begin the transition. Noboa, to turn 36 years old, is about to become the president of a strongly polarized country. The leader of the National Democratic Action (ADN) defines himself as centre-left and promised to "build a new Ecuador" focused on the youth and the most neglected sectors.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. has released its 2022 Sustainability Report, reaffirming its steadfast commitment to conserving the planet. “As a global agribusiness, sustainability is ingrained in our identity and we recognize the pressing need to continue fortifying our operations against the changing climate," said Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer, Senior Vice President, R&D and Agricultural Services at Fresh Del Monte.

Following the signing of the trade agreement between Ecuador and South Korea, the banana sector has high expectations. They expect to increase exports to that country fivefold, even going from being the fourth banana supplier to the first, which is now the Philippines. The fact is that the 30% tariff paid for the entry of the fruit to South Korea will drop 6% each year to reach 0% within five years once the Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement (SECA) comes into force, which was signed on October 10 by the Foreign Trade Ministers of Ecuador, Daniel Legarda, and South Korea, Bang Moon Kyu, in Seoul, as a prelude to the full ratification of the trade agreement.

Fairtrade America, the U.S. branch of Fairtrade International, announced it is backing calls from banana producers and farm workers for fair prices and decent incomes - or banana producers risk going out of business. Fairtrade recently undertook its annual public consultation and extensive cost-of-production study involving more than 165 farmers, traders and retailers to deliver on its promise to secure fairer prices for farmers and workers.

The water crisis affecting the operations of the Panama Canal is creating a reduction in the number of daily transits, as well as a decrease in the draft of the vessels that can transit, so the Maritime Chamber of Panama has called for strengthening the rest of the actors in the Sector to provide a more efficient service to the maritime and logistics chain and seek alternatives for the service.

On October 20, Guatemala reached 18 days of protests and road blockades that began on October 2 to demand the resignation of its attorney general, Consuelo Porras, without any agreements between the demonstrators and the questioned authorities, all in the aftermath of last June and August elections.

A.P. Moller–Maersk has announced plans to install SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet on its fleet of more than 330 owned containerships. The agreement comes after a successful pilot phase where crew members on more than 30 Maersk vessels successfully tested the Starlink technology with "very positive" feedback. Roll-out is expected to be complete in Q1 2024.

The Rural Development Sector of the Labor Party (P.T.) has been touring the various municipalities to learn about the damage left by the heavy rains of Hurricane Lidia. In an interview, Mauricio Barreto Peralta, head of the Sector, said that "there is an important gravity" in banana and papaya crops, subject to the data being made official by the corresponding authorities.

The ongoing spillage of excess water from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams in the Eastern Region of Ghana, which has lasted for weeks, has not only destroyed infrastructure and displayed large numbers of people, but the activity has also destroyed several hectares of farmlands, including banana plantations.