The first months of 2023 marked a good start for most of the agricultural and agro-industrial products that Ecuador exports to its various destinations. Bananas, flowers, fruits and broccoli showed growth ranging from 10% to 93% as in the case of fruits.

However, cocoa is the only one of these products to represent a drop in exports of 15 percent in value and 19 percent in volume in January and February, compared to the same period in 2022, according to data from the Central Bank.

Ecuador’s trade balance recorded a positive balance of 267 million dollars, but it was affected by the drop in oil exports

In the cocoa sector, they assure that the negative indices are the result of two factors: climate change and insecurity, but the global recession is added to that, he asserted. Iván Ontaneda, president of the National Association of Cocoa Exporters (Anecacao).

Ontaneda believes that losses in the sector amount to about 25 million dollars due to problems of productivity, exports and damage to the product; And of that value, 12 million dollars will be influenced by the climate between 2022 and the current year 2023.

He says that they have gone from the La Niña phenomenon recorded between September and October last year, which affects the flowering and development of the classes, and since the beginning of the year there has been a drastic winter season, which also left consequences. in the field.

“With this much rain, the flower falls off, and therefore the quality, because the product needs water, but not so much, and it also needs a lot of sun so that the producer can dry the harvest and harmonize with the process, which avoids the occurrence of diseases that carry excess water and moisture, such as monilia, i.e. cob rot”, explains Ontaneda.

He adds that they have areas affected by this disease in more than 60 to 70% in parts of the province of Los Ríos and Esmeraldas. “This means that only 30% of the tree from a producer that has between 90-100 spikes serves, so it directly affects that production, that producer and obviously the export volumes,” he says.

With two new freight frequencies from Quito to Los Angeles, the arrival of flower, fruit and fish exports to the United States is supported

According to the entrepreneur, we are now waiting to see what will happen with the announced El Niño phenomenon.

He comments that they have weather reports stating that they could start at the end of July or November. “All these situations become the sword of Damocles for the producer, for the exporter and for the entire sector. We have no idea what will happen in the second half of the year,” he says.

“As many as ten cocoa exporters were imprisoned for crime”

Regarding insecurity, President Anecacao points out that the sector is “desperately crying out” for government support. He confirms that they have held several meetings with different authorities, even held technical round tables, but in fact the attacks and extortions against small producers, field technicians, export companies and cocoa businesses continue to progress dramatically.

According to the entrepreneur, the closure of businesses is worrying and concerns places such as Quevedo, Buena Fe, in Los Ríos, as well as Manabí and Esmeraldas. He adds that as many as ten export companies have been closed because, if they do not work with organized crime, they will be directly affected.

Fuel imports have already almost equaled crude oil exports

He says that despite having guards and even increased security, trucks are a target for crime. He claims that in 2022, they increased to 16 million dollars for security, a cost that was taken over by the export sector, and they no longer have room to do so, because they believe that the state is in charge of security.

In this sense, he points out that these constant increases in costs, not only in security but also in other items, mean an increase in the value for exports, and it is precisely the sector that cannot sell taxes on costs because they are left out of the market. As an example, he states that production and export in Colombia or Peru is cheaper compared to what Ecuador has.

Regarding new investments in the sector, Ontaneda points out “that we are not talking about new investments”, but on the contrary, about the closure of businesses and companies, which generates disinvestment in the cocoa sector and consequently generates unemployment. This shows that the non-oil export sector creates more than 1.2 million jobs in the country.

He also expresses another concern about the global recession, not only for cocoa, but for all the country’s exports.

“We have the illiquidity that developed countries have, namely those who buy shrimp, bananas, cocoa and fish. So the purchasing power of consumers in the first world has fallen… The dollar has become more expensive and that makes exports more expensive…”, he points out.

Ontaneda points out that in 2022, 430,000 tons of cocoa were sold, of which 120,000 went to the USA, the country that is considered the main market, followed by Europe and Asia. As for projections for this year, he doesn’t want to give numbers and says he’ll wait to see how weather and safety conditions continue.