Ecuador: El Nino phenomenon could impact worldwide Banana shipments

profit.ndtv.com/Thomson Reuters reported El Nino, a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific, can trigger floods and drought in different regions, hitting production of key foods such as rice, wheat and sugar. Weather forecasters are increasingly predicting it will return in 2014 for the first time in five years.

“On land, the volumes of food and bananas from Ecuador and Central America could be severely affected,” said Ole Schack Petersen, with the world’s No.1 container group Maersk Line.

“If there is less volume of bananas moving from a combination of Ecuador and Colombia then the world will simply not be able to make up for those banana volumes – there are no main supply areas that can cover for a serious reduction in output in Ecuador and Colombia.”

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Mr Petersen said in the event of any negative impact, Maersk would potentially change deployments of its fleet in the region.

“When we are affected negatively in (places) like the west coast of South America including Ecuador because of no or few substitutions, a loss is a loss,” he said. “It is not that we can make it up elsewhere.” Read Article