Russia seeks to activate shipping route with Latin America for banana imports

In order to activate banana imports from Ecuador, Russia’s transportation company, Fesco FESH.MM, started negotiations to establish a shipping route between Russia and Latin America. 

In response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, France’s CMA CGM, Denmark’s Maersk, and Swiss-based MSC, the world’s largest container shipping lines, have suspended routes to and from Russia, while the West has imposed sweeping sanctions.

The Fesco’s board of directors chairman, Andrei Severilov, commented that the company is above all discussing importing bananas from Ecuador, as well as agricultural products from other countries of Latin America.

According to Severilov, the main problem is the lack of a large capacity fleet. He stated that they plan to acquire ships with more than double capacity of those they have today, about 7.000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit, a container’s measure capacity).

Banana is one of the most demanded fruits in Russia. According to data from the international information services company, NielsenIQ, bananas achieved a share of 21.7% in fruit sales in monetary terms between January and October 2022.

source: gcaptain.com