El Niño, pest infestation and the recurrence of diseases in farms would make it difficult for banana exports to recover this year, an industry group said over the weekend.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) Executive Director Stephen Antig told the BusinessMirror that his group is not so optimistic this year due to a number of challenges confronting the banana sector.
“Production is expected to drop due to strong El Niño, increase in the cost of plant nutrition and management of pests and diseases, and harassment by certain elements [rebel groups harassing big plantations in Mindanao],” Antig said.
Compounding banana exporters’ woes, he added, is the possibility that the price of fresh bananas in the world market may not return to its 2014 level.
“This year the value of banana exports [freight-onboard] will not be able to reach the 2014 level.
Recovery will most likely happen in 2017,” Antig said.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the value of banana exports in 2015 declined by 69.1 percent to $430.94 million, from $1.13 billion in 2014. Production, however, grew by 2.24 percent to 9.08 million metric tons (MMT) last year, from 8.88 MMT recorded a year ago.
“The value of exports last year went down due to the crash of banana prices in the global market during the first and second quarters because of oversupply, as more countries supplied fresh bananas,” Antig said.
Due to the challenges confronting the industry, Antig earlier said some multinational companies have expressed their intention to expand their operations to other banana-growing countries. He said other countries are more investor-friendly as they grant more incentives.
The PBGEA urged the Philippine government to be “more supportive” of the industry and “more proactive” in solving the problems faced by banana growers and exporters.
The group said the government should be “more aggressive” in trade negotiations, particularly in pushing for the reduction or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers. The PBGEA said the government should also target the establishment of a world-class research institute.
“[The government should also push for the] extension of duty-free privileges for the importation of agricultural and fisheries inputs, equipment and machinery, including fertilizers, agrichemicals, packaging materials, under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act,” Antig said. He added that the PBGEA will partner with the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau to find new markets for local bananas.
Earlier, Antig said Middle Eastern countries have a huge demand for Philippine bananas, but exporters have not been able to take advantage of this.