Less than a week before the start of 2023, only 25% of the contracts for the export of fruit for that year have been signed, which worries the export sector.
This was stated on Tuesday by Richard Salazar, executive director of the Banana Marketing and Export Association of Ecuador (Acorbanec), who regretted that the contract signing process is stagnant. “So far only 25% of the total export has been signed, because the producers do not want to sign contracts for 2023,” said the leader.
The producer sector recognizes the resistance to signing the contracts and even Franklin Torres, president of the Association of Banana Producers of Ecuador (Fenabe), clarified that the signed contracts do not even reach 10% of fruit exports by 2023 .
Banana producers and exporters agreed on the export price of a box of bananas at $6.50
The price of the fruit for 2023 was made official on November 10, after the ministry issued Ministerial Agreement 125 with the minimum support price of $6.50 and the FOB price of $8.66 for the box of 43 pounds for export, a price that was set between exporters and producers during the Banana Advisory Council.
The same Law, in its article 1, indicates that the signing of contracts must take place until December 29, 2022, otherwise “the exporter who does not sign contracts with producers or marketers will not be able to export.”
However, despite having reached an agreement last September, producers and exporters were unable to make progress in signing contracts because the former seek to place the fruit on the market. spots, that is to say, without contracts and according to the supply and demand of the international market in which the box of fruit can reach up to $13, depending on the day of the cut.
At the time, this was rejected by the exporters who asked the authorities to enforce the Banana Law, which in numeral 6 of article 3 obliges exporters to “enter into fruit purchase contracts with producers or their marketers, registered or registered in the Ministry”. Currently the export sector has not changed its position.
“Producers demand compliance with the law, but the majority are not willing to comply with it, for selling in spots at high prices. already the spots The average price for 2023 until week 51 was $6.40, higher than the minimum support price of $6.25,” Salazar said.
Meanwhile, the producers proposed that the exporters pay them an additional $1 per box of bananas to sign contracts, at least for the first six months of 2023, but this request was rejected, lamented Torres, who announced that they will insist that this amount be paid. additional. They will do so when the representatives of producers and exporters meet with the Ministry of Agriculture to try to reach agreements.
This meeting will be this Tuesday afternoon, according to Salazar, at least between the export sector and MAG. Meanwhile, Torres indicated that there is still no scheduled date for an appointment between his sector, the exporters and the authorities.
Producers ask for an additional $1 per box of bananas, during the first six months of 2023, to sign contracts
“We want it to be established (the payment of an additional $1), although the times do not allow for that due to the dates,” said the head of Fenabe, who warned that “if this is not done, we are condemning the sector is to bankruptcy”.
Torres indicated that the problem is that the ministry has not been able to control the banana business and that although the price has remained stable in recent months, this does not guarantee the long-term stability of the marketing chain.
For its part, the ministry – through a statement – on Tuesday urged banana exporters and producers to sign contracts.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock urges producers and exporters to sign their contracts with a minimum validity of one calendar year or 52 weeks. That is to say, that they begin to apply from January 1 to December 31, 2023, “said the State portfolio. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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