The market is tending to regain balance. Total supply is still larger than average but tending to decrease in line with the seasonal trend. Shipments from Africa and the French West Indies have remained stable. However, shipments from dollar sources have begun their seasonal fall (the volumes from Ecuador delivered in northern Europe fell from 1.2 million boxes to 900 000). Some northern European operators have started their summer supply programme. Spot batches of dollar bananas have become rarer. Likewise, arrivals from Surinam displayed a temporary dip. Furthermore, numerous promotion operations have kept demand at a healthy level in spite of increased competition from the seasons fruits. Stocks have been cleared in this context. Prices have been lowered in Germany to match those on the other markets, where a firming has been observed.