The Council of Agriculture has touted plans to sell 2,000 tonnes of bananas to help farmers deal with a fruit glut, but with Taiwanese bananas selling below costs in China, academics are questioning whether politics is involved in the deal.
A report by China’s China News Agency said that the first 100 tonnes of Taiwanese bananas went on sale on Monday last week in Shanghai for 1.88 yuan (US$0.29) per 500g, or about NT$16.88 per kilogram.
However, the wholesale price for bananas at the end of last month was NT$20.50 per kilo at traditional markets in Taipei, averaging NT$17.70 for the whole month, and was NT$17.20 last week.
Photo: Yeh Yung-chien, Taipei Times
Taiwanese Farmers’ Rights Association chairman Wu Chiu-ku (吳秋榖) said retail prices were usually between NT$2 and NT$5 higher than the wholesale price, meaning that people in Taiwan purchased bananas at between NT$19 and NT$22 per kilo.
Once overhead such as transportation and customs taxes are factored in, the price of Taiwanese bananas in China should be higher, Wu said.
“How can Taiwanese bananas sell [for] cheaper on the Chinese market than in Taiwan?” Wu asked, adding that there was “something fishy” about the matter.
Wu Ming-ming (吳明敏), a professor in Kainan University’s marketing department, said the CIF — cost, insurance and freight — for a 12kg crate of Taiwanese bananas in China was US$9.50, or about NT$23 per kilo.
CIF means the seller is responsible for paying for costs associated with the delivery of the goods to the port of destination, as well as the purchase of insurance in the name of the buyer to cover potential risk of loss or damage to the goods during transport.
Adding a 5 percent tax, a 17 percent value-added tax (VAT) and 20 percent in management and marketing fees, every kilo should sell in China for NT$33.50 to meet overhead costs, Wu Ming-ming said.
It is unreasonable for bananas to be selling in Shanghai for less than half the overhead costs, Wu Ming-ming said.
Lee Yuan-ho (李元和), head of Fo Guang University’s economics department, said “zero distance” pricing and overhead showed that this was not normal trading practice, adding that as businesspeople would never invest to lose money, the government should explain who was covering the difference.
Market sources say that bananas shipped to China are being bought for between NT$10 and NT$12 per kilo, about the same price as those sold domestically.
The sources said that after packaging, transportation and handling fees were added, the CIF cost in China should be no less than NT$23 per kilo.
Hsiao Tung-chung (蕭柊瓊), deputy director-general of the Council of Agriculture’s International Cooperation Division, said the Taiwanese bananas sold in Shanghai last week were a commercial transaction between businesses based in Pingtung and Shanghai Fruit Co.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS