In February, the value of mining exports once again displaced bananas and plantains, which are traditional from Ecuador, from third place.

Processing plant of the large-scale Fruta del Norte mine, in Zamora Chinchipe.
The value of mining exports closed in February at USD 334 million, that is, 41% more than in the same month last year, according to the Central Bank.
The February figure places mining in third place in terms of value, behind oil and shrimp, displacing bananas and plantains from that position.
The first time that mining surpassed the banana sector in terms of external sales was in April 2022.
By value, mining also managed to displace bananas and plantains from third place in June, August and September of last year.
And it is not due to a drop in the value of banana and plantain exports, it was USD 329 million in February 2023; that is, 1.2% more than in the same month of 2022.
What has driven mining?
The entry into production of industrial mining in Ecuador in 2019, with the large-scale projects Mirador (copper) and Fruta del Norte (gold) , marked a before and after for the sector.
However, a mine does not start producing at full capacity immediately, but rather after the third or fourth year of operation, explains María Eulalia Silva, executive president of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining.
The most important jump in mining exports occurred in 2021. That year, the industry exceeded USD 2,000 million worth of shipments abroad, it was also the first year in which the two mines operated non-stop, since in 2020 there were shutdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the mining industry closed with a value of USD 2,775 million in exports, of which at least 75% corresponds to industrial mining.
Strong demand for metals
Silva explains that the economic recovery in the world, after the pandemic, has boosted the demand for metals.
The massive adoption of clean energy also implies a greater demand for metals.
“There is no energy transition without metals. An electric car consumes four times more copper than fossil fuel. Copper is vital to produce electricity”, explains María Eulalia Silva.
According to the Ministry of Energy, in 2022, copper and its concentrate were the most exported mining products, with a value of USD 1,163 million, which represented 46% of the total.
Most of the copper and copper concentrate came from the Mirador mine, operated by the Chinese company Ecuacorriente, in Zamora Chinchipe.
Gold and its concentrate follow, with a value of USD 748 million, that is, 30% of mining exports.
That gold corresponds, for the most part, to the production of the large-scale Fruta del Norte mine, also in Zamora Chinchipe. The mine is owned by Canada’s Lundin Gold.
“The production of Mirador and Fruta del Norte will continue to grow a little more this year and next,” says Silva, who recalls that only 8% of Ecuadorian territory is explored.
Future investments
Regarding upcoming investments, Silva explains that there are three projects that are almost ready to enter the mine construction phase, which would represent an investment of close to USD 1,000. But there are delays.
According to a 2021 Constitutional Court ruling, before a project obtains an environmental license in any of its phases, the State must comply with an environmental consultation, together with a pre-legislative consultation with the surrounding communities.
However, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (Cofeniae) filed an unconstitutionality action against Executive Decree 604, which regulates pre-legislative consultation.
The organizations consider that the Executive tries to regulate a constitutional right with the decree, by means of a lower-ranking norm, which would put at risk a real participation of the native peoples in the consultation.
Banana price rises
Between January and February 2023, banana and plantain exports totaled a value of USD 709 million, according to the ECB. In cumulative terms, this sector remains in third place in the country’s exports.
By value, fruit exports grew 9.8% in the two-month period, as a result of a higher spot price due to high demand during the winter in the northern hemisphere. This is explained by Richard Salazar, executive director of the Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec).
In volume, the rise was 8.6%, according to the ECB. However, Acorbanec differs from that figure. Estimates for the sector show a fall of 0.5%, between January and February 2023, in relation to the same months of the previous year.
Said fall responds to climatic factors. During the first two months of the year, according to the union, 66.8 million boxes of 18.14 kilograms each were exported.
32% of that volume went to the European Union and 23% to Russia.
In other words, Russia continues to be the main market for Ecuadorian bananas, despite the war.
Salazar explains that the logistical problems caused by the war were quickly overcome. For this reason, exports to Russia fell just 2% in 2022.