Fedexpor highlights that exports in the first month of 2025 make it "the January that generated the most foreign currency in the last 25 years."

Cocoa began 2025 as Ecuador's second-largest export, excluding oil, thanks to a strong run of international prices, currently hovering around US$8,000 per ton. It is now approaching shrimp and displacing bananas.

The Central Bank of Ecuador has published its January export statistics, which show that the country's five main sources of foreign currency are:

• Oil, US$877.4 million
• Shrimp, US$ 596.2 million
• Cocoa and processed products, US$ 517.1 million
• Bananas and plantains, US$ 353.3 million
• Mining products, US$ 272.2 million, the only one that had a reduction (13%) in its income

Ecuador exported US$3.172 billion in the first month of the year; of this, nearly US$2.3 billion came from non-oil sales.

Cocoa exports reached US$3.351 billion in 2024, behind shrimp, which generated US$6.992 billion, and bananas, which generated US$3.656 billion, according to official figures from the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment, and Fisheries.

For its part, the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor) highlights that in the first month of 2025, US$2.021 billion in foreign currency was generated from shipments of non-oil, non-mining products, equivalent to an increase of nearly US$600 million compared to the previous year. "This performance makes January the year with the highest amount of foreign currency generation in the last 25 years."

Central Bank figures indicate that cocoa prices grew 331% in January compared to the same month in 2024. The price of cocoa rose from US$119.8 million to US$517.1 million, reflecting the impact of the price. The Central Bank's report shows the price of exported cocoa at US$4,260.5 million a year ago, while in January of this year it was US$10,361 million.

Just as cocoa is the most developed among traditional exports, fruits are the most developed among non-traditional exports.

Ecuadorian fruit exports grew by 60%, as the US$22.5 million in January 2024 reached US$36.2 million in the first month of 2025.

New markets for pitahaya

One of the fruits that is growing is the pitahaya. The Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment, and Fisheries, through the Proecuador trade office, highlighted that the company Nunkuifoods has opened new markets for the yellow pitahaya, including Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

And so, this exotic fruit was shipped to those destinations from Salcedo these days. The export is attributed to contacts made at one of the major business roundtables held in 2024.

At the beginning of March, FLP del Ecuador also finalized a new export of pitahaya to Uruguay, expanding its client base.

And in February, Ecuador opened the Argentine market for the first time to red pitahaya. At the time, Francisco Castro, a representative of pitahaya producers, highlighted the shipment of the first container and the importance of the markets to which the fruit arrives, but warned that competition has complicated operations. He emphasized that Ecuador always sets itself apart with the quality of its fruit. "We sustain the business with quality."

He also spoke about the opening of Canada to the pitahaya, where they also sent a shipment.