India Gets Market Access for Exporting Bananas to Canada
05 May 2022
India is all set to export bananas to Canada after
receiving approval from the Canadian government. Besides bananas, India will
also supply baby corn to Canada. For India, the approval will immediately benefit
Indian farmers of these crops and also boost Indian export earnings. For
Canada, the approval means having broader access to both fresh crops. The
access, however, comes at a time when prices of bananas in the Canadian market
are low, following a global market trend.
India’s Banana Exports to the World
by Quarter
Although India is not only one of the top banana
exporters, it is also one of the world’s leading producers, with a share of
around 25% of the global output. Exporting bananas in the Canadian market is a
strategy to increase exports both in volume and value. India exported US$131.3 million worth of bananas to the world in
2021. And in Q1 of 2022, shipments of bananas worth US$53.5 million departed
from India. Visualize quarter-wise values of India’s banana exports.
Quarter |
Value US$ Million |
2021-Q1 |
27.5 |
2021-Q2 |
43.4 |
2021-Q3 |
20.2 |
2021-Q4 |
40.2 |
2022-Q1 |
53.5 |
India’s Banana Export Development
As the production of bananas has declined in major
exporting regions of Latin America and Southeast Asia due to the spread of the
Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for Indian bananas has substantially increased.
In fact, India’s banana export volume has almost doubled in the past three
years. For 2020/21, the banana export value rose by 33% YoY, reaching a record
high value of US$103.3 million, while the export quantity saw 18% YoY for
another record high volume of 212.8K million tonnes.
India’s banana export has been increasing sharply
because of the adoption of farm practices per global standards. As a result,
Indian bananas have increased in price value over the last years. According to
the reports, the average export price for Indian bananas has increased from US$
0.20/kg in 2016 to US$ 0.50/kg in 2021.
In 2022, when India started exporting bananas to
Canada, the price of bananas from India recorded a substantial increase YoY.
According to the reports, the wholesale price of bananas in India increased by
55.92% YoY in March 2022, when the price stood at US$ 0.59/kg. Unseasonal rain
disrupted the production and led to low supply. As a result, Indian banana
prices surged in March 2022, remaining over US$ 0.60/kg all through April 2022.
Canada’s Banana Imports from the
World 2021
Canadian imports of fresh bananas have moderately
increased over the past years, attesting to steady demand from the market. In
2021, Canada imported bananas worth US$458 million. Fresh bananas import into
Canada is dominated by Guatemala, which accounted for 42.3% of the import
share, followed by Costa Rica with 18% and Colombia and Ecuador with 13% each.
Analyze Canada’s banana imports from the world in 2021 through data
visualization.
Origin Country |
Value US$ Million |
Value US$ % |
Guatemala |
194 |
42.3 |
Costa Rica |
82 |
18 |
Colombia |
62 |
13.6 |
Ecuador |
59 |
13 |
Honduras |
22 |
5 |
Mexico |
20 |
4.5 |
Panama |
6 |
1.5 |
Peru |
6 |
1.3 |
Uganda |
1 |
0.3 |
United States |
1 |
0.2 |
India’s Banana Exports by
Destination Country 2021
Indian bananas have started finding a place mainly in
Middle Eastern markets, with Iran as its primary buyer taking 31.8% of the
export share in 2021, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 20.2%.
Destination Country |
Value US$ Million |
Value US$ % |
Iran |
47.5 |
31.8 |
United Arab Emirates |
30.1 |
20.2 |
Iraq |
14.1 |
9.5 |
Oman |
13.2 |
8.8 |
Afghanistan |
12.9 |
8.6 |
Nepal |
8.2 |
5.5 |
Saudi Arabia |
6.1 |
4.1 |
Qatar |
4.5 |
3.0 |
Uzbekistan |
2.9 |
1.9 |
Kuwait |
2.3 |
1.5 |
India’s exports will now increase after Canada
approved to import Indian bananas. Banana exporters in India will see a growth
in their business from receiving fresh orders from Canada.