Ecuador banana sales seen $2.1 billion
06.05.2010
Ecuador, the world's top banana exporter, forecasts that the industry will earn $2.1 billion from shipments this year or 17 percent more than a year earlier despite
a dip in sales during the first four months of the year, an industry group said on Thursday.
Exporters also expect the government to sign accords to open up markets in Iran, Libya and China, said Eduardo Ledesma, head of AEBE, the local banana exporting association,
at the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit.
"If the government (of President Rafael Correa) closes deals with these countries, we could export an additional 10 million crates of bananas per year," he said.
"In 2010 we expect to bring in $2.1 billion," Ledesma added.
Ecuador (1) -- Analyses -- 2010
More about the bananas
06.05.2010
In the January-April period, Ecuadorean banana exports fell by $22 million compared with the same 2009 period due to weather disturbances and a dip in prices. Ledesma said he hopes to see a bounce-back in the market in the months ahead.
The European Union and United States initialed a deal in December with Latin American, African and Caribbean nations ending a decades-old trade war over bananas.
The pact ended the world's longest-running trade dispute and removed a potential obstacle to a new deal to open global commerce in the World Trade Organization's 8-year-old Doha round.
Bulgarian