Olympic shrimp that surpass bananas

The annual race for the podium of exports is increasingly tight. The undisputed leader has lost in the last four months the lead and has left that shrimp, the second most requested Ecuadorian product and reputed in the international market, surpasses it by 65.6 million.

The laziness of the most energetic product began in May. Bananas, despite its nutrients, reduced the number of shipments because of the cold (and that reduced its sales from 246 million in April to 236 million in May). At the same time, the shrimp took advantage of the summer current and advanced more than 24% to export 248.9 million dollars with prices that have remained reasonably stable.

This is due to the excessively low temperatures of the Ecuadorian summer this year. “Sales volumes have been reduced, says the president of the Exporters (AEBE), Eduardo Ledesma. “Due to cold, bananas are taking too long to mature and do not reach the size and quality demanded in Europe. Is thinner,” explains Ledesma, to advance that the banana sector assumes that this year exports will not exceed the sales of last year.

317 million boxes less will go to foreign markets, and that equates to almost 300,000 containers per year. “Less income for the farmer, for the exporter, for cardboard factories, less plastic, fewer shiploads … It affects the whole chain,” says Ledesma, without worrying. “At the end of the year, the banana will be the number one export,” he contends.