Philippine banana exporters see bigger growth

The Philippines expects to increase its banana exports to South Korea after the latter exclude Philippine bananas from the list of products subject to a 10% tariff adjustment on imports.

The Philippines, which has nearly 340,000 hectares of banana plantations, exports about two-million metric tons of banana yearly to Japan, the Middle East, South Korea, China, Hing Kong and New Zealand.

Last year, Japan bought a total of 641,253 tons, making it still the largest importer of bananas in the country. It was followed by the Middle East with about 425,082 tons of bananas bought in 2007.

The growth in the sector is mainly driven by higher productivity and expanding operations, according to the agriculture department.