Morocco restored its banana imports in 2023 after a significant slump in the previous year, reports EastFruit. By August 2023, Morocco has already imported more bananas than in the whole of 2022, when the global trade of this product faced a severe crisis due to natural disasters, adverse weather conditions and the geopolitical tensions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Morocco is not a major producer or exporter of bananas, although locally grown products still dominate the Moroccan market. The country produces up to 350 thousand tons of bananas annually, and also imports between 22 and 28 thousand tons of these fruits from Latin American countries and islands in the Atlantic Ocean that belong to Spain and Portugal,” comments Yevhen Kuzin, Fruit & Vegetable Market Analyst at EastFruit.
In January-October 2023, i.e. in its first ten months, Morocco imported 23 thousand tons of bananas, which is a 33% increase compared to the entire disappointing year of 2022. This volume also surpasses the figures of 2019 and 2020 and indicates a potential record-breaking outcome for 2023.
It is worth noting that the overall decline in banana imports to Morocco in 2022 was mainly driven by a sharp drop in supplies from Ecuador, which plummeted by more than 40% to 8.8 thousand tons. A year later, however, the Ecuadorian banana exports to Morocco recovered just partially, and some volumes were replaced by fruits from European countries that achieved record supplies to the Moroccan market in 2023.
“Moroccan importers compensated for the shortage of bananas from Latin America by sourcing fruits from Portugal and Spain. However, in the case of the latter, this only happened in 2023, as the banana plantations in the Canary Islands had been damaged by a volcanic eruption in September 2021. As a result, Morocco imported a record 5.2 thousand tons of bananas from Spain and a record 1.6 thousand tons from Portugal in January-October 2023,” continues Yevhen Kuzin.
It should also be noted that Spain, Portugal, and France make up the trio of the largest producers of bananas in Europe, although these fruits are not grown on the European mainland. Spain produces bananas in the Canary Islands, France in the overseas departments and collectivities in the Caribbean, and Portugal on the island of Madeira.
“2022 was a challenging year for the global banana industry in most regions. Producers in Ecuador and other Latin American countries faced unfavorable weather conditions that increased the costs of banana growing and post-harvest handling. Fertilizer prices also soared, and consumer demand fell due to the global economic slowdown. These are just some of the difficulties that banana exporters had to overcome”, adds Yevhen Kuzin.
The global demand for bananas improved slightly in the following year, but the industry still faced many challenges. In mid-2023, Ecuadorian banana growers warned of the potential impact of El Niño on their crops. Moreover, farmers had to spend more money every year to stop the spread of TR4 disease, which could wipe out all the bananas of the Cavendish variety.
“2023 will likely be another tough year for the global banana industry. The recovery of consumer demand did not fully compensate for the losses of the previous year, and new problems emerged on top of the usual weather risks. The blockade of the Red Sea has pushed up the prices of sea transportation worldwide, and Russia’s recent partial ban on Ecuadorian bananas could reshape a large segment of the global fruit market. We should also remember TR4, because the Cavendish variety became popular only after the Gros Michel variety, the former favorite, had been almost eradicated by another disease,” Yevhen Kuzin concludes.
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