In October 2016, the European market confirmed the very good trend observed one month previously, exceeding 6 million tonnes over twelve months (November 2015 to October 2016).
This is practically 300 000 t more than one year ago, and 745 000 t more than for the same period of 2012-2013. October 2016 brought a third consecutive month of increases. On the import side, the ACP group members registered by far the best performances, with a rise of nearly 25 % from October 2015. Imports from the dollar sources ebbed by 2.5 %, though less than European production which recorded the worst performance with a drop of 5.7 %. This figure is an expression of the depressive effects on Martinique’s volumes of the transit of Storm Matthew (late September). For Guadeloupe, October 2016 was similar to October 2015. The Canaries continued their momentum with a 10.5 % improvement. Over the first ten months, the balance was highly positive. The market climbed by a volume of nearly 6 %, benefitting both imports (+ 4.3 %) and European production (+ 7.8 %).
We are a long way from this scenario in the United States, whose banana market has remained becalmed for three years at just over 4 million tonnes (annual rate). There is nothing happening Stateside, except perhaps a hint of weakness from Guatemala, which dropped by 3 % from the beginning of the year, and Costa Rica which recovered its standing thanks to a 25 % rise over ten months, after a terrible 2015. All the other sources were in the red, especially Colombia which cut its volumes to the USA by 25 % in the space of one year due to the effects of El Niño, but also very much favouring trade to the EU. For this source, things should rebalance by the next review, because of a very strong late production peak in November.
Source: CIRAD
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