CAMEROON – Banana producers operating in Cameroon exported 11,764 tons of the agricultural commodity, a 10.9% year-on-year drop that was largely influenced by a declining performance of the country’s leading exporter PHP.
According to statistics compiled by the Cameroon Banana Association (Assobacam), in July 2023, PHP (Plantations du Haut Penja) exports declined 16.54% year-on-year to 8,714 tons of bananas.
This was PHP’s lowest export volume since 2022 and marks the second time export volumes of the French-owned company trended below the 10,000 tons mark this year.
The first time was in May when PHP – a subsidiary of French group Compagnie fruitière de Marseille- recorded 9,761 tons.
The downturn in the export volume of PHP was partially mitigated by the excellent performance of the state-owned agribusiness company CDC.
Assobacam data shows that CDC, the country’s second-largest employer after the central government, exported 2,035 tons of bananas in July 2023, an increase of 26.6% compared to the 1,607 tons it exported during the same period in 2022.
As was the case with PHP, the exports of Boh Plantations Plc also fell 12% in July 2023 to 1,015 tons of bananas, against 1,155 tons a year earlier.
The slowdown in the activities of market leader Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP) has also impacted the country’s half-year performance.
Assobacam report indicates that Cameroon exported 95,623 tons of bananas in the first half of 2023, a 15% decline from the same period last year.
Over the said period, PHP exported 76,021 tons of bananas, down 15,879 tons (-20%) compared to the 91,900 tons it exported in H1-2022.
State-owned agribusiness corporation CDC recorded a rise in its banana shipments abroad during the period, exporting 13,677 tons of bananas in H1-2023 against 10,393 tons a year earlier.
Boh Plantations PLC, the third largest banana exporter in Cameroon, also experienced a 31.6% drop in its exports between June 2022 and June 2023, from 7,798 tons to just 5,925 tons.
This decline in banana exports during the first half of 2023 implies a loss of export revenue for Cameroon and income for the producers, particularly for PHP.
PHP’s exports have however become much more profitable since January 2022 because, as an exporter of Fairtrade-certified products, it benefits from the price increase decided by Fairtrade International in late 2021.
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