After going through a bad patch in July, European banana consumption returned to a strong upward tempo in August.
This powerful surge saw a supply of 470 000 tonnes, i.e. 50 000 t more than in August 2015. Converted into annual terms (September 2015 to August 2016), EU-28 consumption was equivalent to 6 million tonnes, an absolute record. Over the first eight months of 2016, the supply exceeded 4 million tonnes for the first time, i.e. a rise of 4.6 %! The African sources, especially Côte d’Ivoire, month after month confirmed an excellent dynamic. Costa Rica is also on fire with a gain of 100 000 t since the beginning of the year. Yet it is simpler to make a list of sources scaling down on the European market. Ecuador, which prioritises the North American market, saw a slump, as did Colombia and Panama. As for the ACP, Belize and Surinam ebbed under the effect of the flooding for the former, and a disease for the latter. European production too followed a very positive trend over the eight months. All the main production regions (Canaries, Martinique and Guadeloupe) contributed to these good results. The current data of course does not take into account the effects of Cyclone Matthew, which caused major damage in Martinique in early October.
The North American market is in a completely different situation to the European market. While a leap in consumption could also be observed, over twelve months it reached only 4.1 million tonnes, i.e. a gain of 65 000 t (+ 1.6 %), barely exceeding the population increase. In terms of sources, and as is the case on the European market, Costa Rica saw a boom taking it back to its highest levels: + 31 % over the first eight months. Guatemala was off-form (- 4 %), as were Honduras and Mexico. A special mention goes to Colombia which also scaled down on the North American market, with a 22 % drop over eight months.
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