Traditional exports continue to struggle – bananas, sugar and marine products all down

Published by BBNTEAM at December 1, 2023

Posted: Friday, December 1, 2023. 4:15 pm CST.

By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: The Statistical Institute of Belize’s (SIB) data released for October, 2023 indicated domestic exports were down by 28%.

Most major exports experienced decreased earnings during the month.

Revenues from marine products dropped by 36 percent or $3.1 million, from $8.6 million to $5.5 million, owing to reduced exports of lobster products and conch.

In addition, smaller sales of sugar led to a 28 percent or $2.4 million decline in revenues from this commodity, from $8.5 million in October 2022 to $6.1 million in October 2023.

Banana exports also saw a slight decrease from $8.5 million to $8.2 million.

Among other exports, earnings from molasses fell sharply from just under $1 million in October of last year to less than $0.02 million in October of this year, while revenues from animal feed went down by 55 percent or $2.9 million, from $5.3 million to $2.4 million.

On the other hand, earnings from citrus products were up by almost $0.3 million, growing from $0.2 million in October 2022 to $0.5 million in October 2023, due to increased exports of orange concentrate.

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