Azerbaijan cuts banana imports
In the first quarter of this year Azerbaijan imported 4,371 tons of bananas from Ecuador. This is 3…In the first quarter of this year Azerbaijan imported 4,371 tons of bananas from Ecuador. This is 35 per cent less than in the same period in the year before. Although an official reason for the reduction has not been disclosed, experts are putting it down to a decline in weddings. In January- March 2015, 17,000 wedding took place, and in the same period this year, the number fell to 14,200. Bananas are an integral part of the fruit dessert at Azerbaijani weddings.
The purchasing power of the population also declined and this may have contributed to the drop in imports. Bananas are selling today for around 3 manat per kg at retail.
According to the State Customs Committee, in the first quarter about $4 million was spent on banana imports, 2.4 million less than for the comparable period of 2015.
In 2015, the volume of imports of bananas to Azerbaijan amounted to 19,600 tons ($ 18.3 million).
(1 Azerbaijani Manat=0.67 USD)