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At the beginning of 2024, for the second consecutive year, banana exports from the Dominican Republic, which is exporting less than 200 containers per week, have worsened, a decrease of more than 50 per cent." This information was revealed by the Banamiel group of the Northwest Line in a letter to its shareholders about the tragic drop in banana production, which has been worsening since mid-2023, caused by the unexpected impact of the mite and climatic adversities.

Paraguay has already received a response from the Chilean Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) regarding the verification carried out last December on the processes of production, packaging, sampling, analysis and shipment of Paraguayan bananas to enable its market. According to the National Service of Plant and Seed Quality and Health (Senave), the process of achieving the entry of local products into the trans-Andean country is advancing.

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On December 31, MSC completed its contract with the concession terminal operated by Contecon in the port of Guayaquil. In the future, its operations will go to the private terminal of Bananapuerto in the same port. During 2023, MSC mobilized some 200,000 containers in Contecon, representing about 30% of the total cargo received by this terminal.

Turkmenistan's 'Hemsaýa' economic society plans to operate another greenhouse area of 10 hectares for banana cultivation in the Kaakhka district of the Ahal region this year. Currently, the company has a greenhouse of 5 hectares in this area, where Cavendish bananas are grown, and more than 40 specialists work. The modern greenhouse has advanced equipment from Türkiye, Germany, and Spain, with an automated temperature and humidity control system.

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Ecuador ended 2023 with a record-breaking crime rate, marking the highest level of violence in the nation’s history. Official figures reported a total of 7,878 crimes committed up to December 31, 2023, translating to a rate of 46.5 violent murders per hundred thousand inhabitants. The alarming crime rate was compounded by a high level of impunity, indicative of narco politics and a compromised judicial system.

Ecuador dispatched security forces to its main port terminals and some key transportation routes for fruit and cocoa to allow export operations to continue, exporters informed on January 10. Ecuador is the world's largest exporter of bananas and the third-largest global producer of cocoa, the chocolate-making commodity. The family of President Daniel Noboa has a large banana-exporting business. The country has been rocked this week by violence coming from criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking. Noboa said the Government is at war with the gangs.

Ecuador is interested in maintaining its supply of bananas and other products to the Russian market, notwithstanding recent events where criminal gangs caused unrest after President Daniel Noboa ordered a curfew due to the escape from prison of one of the criminal group's leaders. The President later called the situation in the country an "internal armed conflict."

Dole Food Company announced the launch of a new weekly vessel service called the Northeast United States, starting December 31, 2023. The expanded service will increase the capacity of tropical fresh fruits, including Dole branded bananas, pineapples, dragon fruit, mangoes, and limes, coming to the US from Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala into the Port of Wilmington, DE.

The deadline for the registration of contracts for banana exports leaving the country from January 1., to the different international destinations was met on December 31, 2023, and, according to exporters and producers, only some of the fruit was contracted. As established by the Banana Law, 100% of the fruit to be exported should have a contract as it is the only mechanism for exporting the fruit.

DP World Posorja started in 2024, marking a new milestone in its fourth year of operations with the arrival of the Post-Panamax Maersk Evora, which officially inaugurates the exclusive calls of the Maersk line to the port operated by D.P. World in Ecuador. The Maersk Evora ship left Shanghai, passing through Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas in Mexico before reaching Posorja in Ecuador. The vessel has a LOA (length) of 366 meters, a beam (width) of 48 meters, and a draft that can reach a depth of 15 meters.

Banana selling prices in St Petersburg were USD 20.40-22.60 per box CIF according to brand, quality, packing, and volume. Demand for the fruit was weak due to very low temperatures -25 to -30 degrees C - which mainly affected street sales and discharge operations in the port of St. Petersburg. The long holiday period, which extends to Jan 8, is also among the causes of the drop in sales.

On January 2 2024, A.P. Moller–Meersk announced that it would break all ships bound for the Red Sea / Gulf of Aden, considering the recent incident involving Maersk Hangzhou and ongoing developments in the area. The situation is constantly evolving and remains highly volatile, and all available intelligence confirms that the security risk continues to be significantly elevated.