After four attempts, three of which were unsuccessful, banana producers and exporters reached a consensus this Monday afternoon, November 6, to set the minimum support for a box of bananas at $6.85 for 2024. This was announced a few minutes ago by the minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Eduardo Izaguirre, in the zonal government, in the north of Guayaquil.

Izaguirre highlighted the consensus reached by exporters and products and indicated that it is an example for all production chains in the country.

The decision on the price was left to the State Ministry on Monday, October 30, after the representatives of producers and exporters failed to agree on a third, extraordinary technical table. At that meeting, the export sector proposed setting the price at $6.85, abandoning the initial suggestion that the current price of $6.50 not be moved, but the producers did not accept it.

The other two meetings where no agreement was reached were held on October 17 and 24.

This Monday, MAG announces the price of a box of bananas for the year 2024

Meanwhile, at this point in the negotiations, the producers also dropped their claims on the initial proposal to raise the price of a box of fruit to $8.01, which dropped to $7.50. In addition, there was an interim proposal of $7.25, presented by the Regional Corporation of Ecuadorian Banana Growers (Agroban).

This is the second year in a row that producers and exporters managed to reach a consensus without MAG intervening in the formation of fruit prices. Last year, both sectors agreed that the price of fruit would be $6.50, but since then disagreements have prevailed as most producers preferred to sell fruit at a lower price. place (market price and without contract) than signing contracts with exporters.

Controversies surrounding the price of bananas are understandable due to the situation in which producers and exporters find themselves, former ministers and experts justify

Until last October, according to Agroban data, the price place It averaged $6.96 per case, but there were months where the price skyrocketed and reached above $11 as in week 40, while the lowest price was $3.30 in week 18.

Meanwhile, after the agreement was reached, Richard Salazar, executive director of the Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec), celebrated that the parties had found an agreed price. “In general, although we asked for the price not to be so high, a consensus of $6.85 was reached between the representatives of the manufacturer and the exporter at the negotiating table analyzing all the pros and cons, but what is significant about this is the consensus that finally happened” , Salazar said.