Market Overview – Week 20 / 2010

Banana selling prices in St. Petersburg have rather increased reaching levels of around US$17.00 CIF per box for green fruit and around same level for yellow fruit.

Volume arriving this week was 1.350.000 boxes and about 900.000 are expected for the next.

Prices in the Mediterranean were down again this week reaching levels of US$12.00 CIF per box and around US$12.50 CIF per box in the Black Sea, depending on the quantity and brand sold.

Seasonal fruit is slowing coming out to the local markets and there is less demand for bananas. However, because quantities arriving to the market have considerably dropped in the last few weeks and because of the delays at the Panama Canal, traders are expecting prices to pick up next week, in fact the price in Northern Europe has already improved this week due to less supply available.

The spot market in Ecuador is rather quiet, companies are only loading fruit that has been secured by contracts and some quality problems due to weather conditions still persist.

The shipping activity is somehow balanced and looking encouraging at the moment, tonnage available seems to be just right for next requirements.

The following banana fixtures have been reported this week:

Ecuador – Mediterranean + Black Sea about US6.05 per box

Ecuador – Mediterranean about US$4.75 per box

Time charter for larger vessels went to around US cents 50 per cbft per month and around US cents 55 for smaller tonnage.

Chiquita dedicates Cincinnati salad bar

Chiquita Brands International has joined forces with Cincinnati's bipartisan Congressional representatives and Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) to back the United Fresh Foundation's 'A Salad Bar in Every School' campaign, through the dedication of a new salad bar at Cincinnati's Academy of World Languages.

Joining the ceremony were US representatives Steve Driehaus and Jean Schmidt, along with Chiquita chairman and CEO Fernando Aguirre, CPS superintendent Mary Ronan and United Fresh Produce Association president and CEO Tom Stenzel.

"Promoting better childhood nutrition and wellness in our hometown schools is a great way to give back to our community," said Fernando Aguirre. "Improved access to fruit and vegetables with school salad bars is a winning proposition for our kids and schools. We are proud to be part of this bipartisan effort and are committed to expanding this initiative."

In addition to the Academy, further salad bars have been added at Cincinnati Carson Elementary, Pleasant Ridge Montessori and John P. Parker Elementary schools.

Launched in February 2010 by the United Fresh Foundation, the Salad Bar in Every School campaign is a multi-year public health commitment from the fresh produce industry designed to bring fruit and vegetable salad bars to schools across America, with Chiquita the first produce company to commit to the campaign.

EU and Central America satisfied of reaching balanced association agreement

The European Union (EU) and six Central American countries expressed their satisfaction on May 18 following the conclusion of the negotiations of an Association Agreement that they have described as “balanced,” after both parties had to adjust their positions to reach a trade agreement.

The negotiation ended and some of the last issues to be resolved were the denominations of origin of some European products like Manchego cheese, champagne, whisky, etc.

Regarding bananas, the EU agreed to reduce the tariff from the current 176 Euros per ton to 75 Euros per ton over ten years (the same figure recently offered to Colombia and Peru during the negotiation of the Free Trade Agreement).

Last December’s agreement in Geneva which resolved the historic dispute over the banana tariff for Latin American bananas, proposed to reduce the tariff for the fruit to 114 Euro per ton over ten years which was a sticking point in the negotiations.

During that time the EU could use “temporary measures” to protect banana exports from ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) countries which enter the European market free of tariffs and of the member state banana producing areas like the Canary Islands.

These measures will consist of increasing the tariff (never above what was agreed in Geneva, about 7 euros per ton, according to communitarian sources,) if Central American banana exports exceed certain limits (different according to each country).

European pundits remarked that they calculated the conditions to be imposed over bananas based on the “best years” for Central American exports.

The European Commission thinks the region will save around 50 million Euros in taxes and dues when exporting bananas to the EU.