Asian countries were a key driver of this growth.
Banana exports in January 2025 grew by 2.43% compared to the same month in 2024, adding 883,000 additional boxes. Despite the loss of the Algerian market, where 1.38 million boxes were no longer exported, the sector achieved a positive performance thanks to increased shipments to markets such as Malta, France, and Spain, as well as growth in key destinations like the United States, Argentina, Germany, China, and Russia.
In the European Union, accumulated exports increased by 0.96 million boxes compared to 2024, despite ongoing logistical challenges due to adverse navigation conditions and general delays in port arrivals. The countries with the most notable growth are Malta (509.49%), Spain (131.58%), and France (123.51%), with an estimated additional 0.36 million boxes sent to these destinations. In Asia, there was a positive variation, highlighted by growth in South Korea (39.14%) and China (17.89%), with a combined total of 0.29 million additional boxes sent to these two Asian countries.
The export sector has managed to consolidate growth in several destinations, despite ongoing logistical challenges with persistent ship delays due to storms at sea and congestion at departure, transit, and arrival ports. Moreover, positive results in the Asian region demonstrate the impact of the trade policies implemented there last year. In South Korea, the robust growth seen in 2024, extending into January 2025, is linked to the South Korean government's decision to reduce tariffs to 0 for various fresh fruits. This measure, effective until June 2025, has helped Ecuador increase its market share as a supplier to South Korea, with more than 10% of bananas imported by the country in 2024 coming from Ecuador, compared to just 4% in 2023. Meanwhile, in China, the Free Trade Agreement signed in May 2024, while not showing an immediate increase in shipments, has shown a positive variation at the start of 2025, signaling that the agreement could help strengthen Ecuador's banana presence in the country.
In contrast, other factors have led to negative results in key regions. Political relations between Ecuador and Algeria led to a significant loss in this market. In January 2025, an estimated 1.38 million boxes were no longer exported to this destination. Algeria accounts for 70% of banana exports to the African region, so the restriction on exports to this country resulted in a 60.6% decrease in banana exports to Africa in January 2025 compared to the same month in 2024.
On the local level, weather conditions have shown improvement, with temperatures in January surpassing 25°C each week. However, these temperatures remain lower than those reported in the same weeks of 2024. The average temperature in January 2024 was 26.76°C, while in January 2025, it reached 26.09°C. As a result, the level of bunching has also been lower this year compared to last year. In January 2025, the weekly average was 39.70 bunches per hectare, compared to 41.68 bunches per hectare in January 2024. Additionally, an increase in rainfall has been recorded, which may require the maintenance of drainage and irrigation structures to prevent negative effects on production levels.
At the company level, some firms managed to increase their export levels. Notable examples include Sabrostar Fruit (45.98%), Comersur (39.61%), and Tropicalfruit (29.47%), which collectively shipped 0.96 million additional boxes compared to 2024. On the other hand, companies such as Luderson (-28.35%) and Mendoexport (-25.79%) experienced a decrease in their export levels.
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