Fresh bananas still top export commodity in Davao for 2009
February 8, 2010 12:37 pm
DAVAO CITY, Feb. 8 — Fresh bananas remain the top export commodity of Southern Mindanao or Davao Region for the first three quarters of 2009 despite the challenges faced by the banana industry due to the unresolved issue on aerial spraying particularly in Davao City.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional director Maria Lourdes D. Lim said Davao Region continues to enjoy favorable trade with its major global trading partners as it registered higher value of exports at $ 544 million.
Lim said this may be 29.1 percent reduction compared to the export figure of 767 million US dollars during the same period in 2008, but it is still positive news since the region’s import value amounts to only 406 million US dollars.
Lim said fresh bananas still occupy the top spot in the region’s exported commodity, while rice is the region’s top imported commodity.
“Our rice sufficiency is far from ideal so we remain a net importer of rice,” she said.
Bureau of Customs (BOC) Davao data shows a total of 1,116,542,982 kilograms of fresh bananas amounting to $ 504.56 million were exported by the region from January to August last year.
This was followed by 87,302,405 kilograms of fresh, juice and puree pineapples amounting to $ 39.32 million.
The other top export products for the said period were: activated carbon, $ 17.6 million; banana chips, $ 17.19 million; natural rubber, $ 11.73 million; desiccated coconut, $ 8.65 million; gold with silver, $ 6.69 million; tile, $ 5.92 million; fresh and frozen tuna, $ 4.7 million; and coconut oil, $ 4.7 million.
Meanwhile, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) Davao records showed that banana production in the region increased by 5.1 percent from 2,698,254 for the first three quarters of 2008 to 2,837,044 during the same period in 2009.
On top of the list is Stanfilco (a division of Dole Philippines) with an export volume of 258,008,811 kilograms amounting to $ 198.79 million, followed by Tagum Agricultural Development Co. (TADECO) with an export volume of 136,616,562 kilograms amounting to $ 121.84 million.
Romeo L. Castanaga, Department of Trade (DTI) Davao trade and development specialist, said they have an annual target of $ 153 million for exports under the DTI programs.
He said such target was almost doubled by registering a total of $ 321.73 million.
He said among the indicators for these include the One Stop Export Documentation Center which posted $ 219.21 million, International Trade Fair data which yielded market matching activities and industry clusters commodities.
On the other hand, rice and other cereals like wheat flour were the region’s top import commodities from January to August 2009. (PNA)
LDV/LAC/lvp
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