A meeting of producers and exporters with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) is planned for this Tuesday, October 17, to define the minimum support price (MSP) for a box of bananas that will apply in 2024 to the Regional Corporation of Ecuadorian Banana Growers – Agroban.

The current price is $6.50 per 43-pound case to the manufacturer. Agroban sent a letter to agriculture authorities on October 16 with its proposal, which is the middle value of those presented by producers who want the box to rise to $8.01 and exporters who want it to stay at $6.50.

A new approach by the Regional Corporation of Ecuadorian Banana Growers is a price of $7.25 for a 43-pound box. And also an increase in the minimum FOB reference price to be reported by the export sector, from the current $2.16 to $2.75.

Banana price in 2024: producers ask for an increase to $8 a box, and exporters to stay at $6.50

“After reviewing and analyzing different production prices that understand the reality of our members and that represent a significant sample of the Ecuadorian production sector, we present our comparative proposal regarding the PMS of the banana box and its export costs, proposed by different actors.” , they stated in the press release.

Agroban compares the proposals, takes into account the $8.01 the producers are proposing and the $6.50 the exporters are asking for and adds $2.16 FOB items, leaving $10.17 on one side and $8.66 on the other. Instead, their proposal is $7.25 per case (cost and utility) plus $2.75 FOB, making the total $10.

In order to raise these prices, Agroban is considering several world events, including the 2020 COVID pandemic, post-pandemic effects during 2021; war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022; the El Niño phenomenon, which they state has had an effect in production areas this year and that the “worst” is expected at the end of 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024.

In addition, they mention the implementation of the Due Diligence law in Germany, which is close to being replicated in the European Union (EU), where it is indicated that suppliers in their production chain must respect the minimum wage.

The minimum support price for a box of bananas for 2023 will be $6.50, following a consensus between producers and exporters, MAG announces

“The first mentioned events resulted in extreme historical prices, both down and up, compromising producers and exporters,” they point out in the press release.

Furthermore, the union claims that the price curve can be adopted throughout the year so that prices differ in season and out of season, but always with a weighted average of the minimum support price. They see it as an interesting modality for parties that has already been implemented.