Taiwan’s agricultural exports from January to last month reached a new high of NT$85.3 billion (US$2.7 billion), with sales of fruit surpassing last year’s total, Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday, adding that the council is eyeing new markets in Russia and the Middle East.
After last year’s agricultural exports hit a 20-year high, earning NT$164.6 billion, they made further gains in the first half of this year, Chen told a news conference in Taipei.
This year’s revenue to date came from exports of 1.16 million tonnes of produce, up 6.5 percent from the same period last year, he said, adding that rice, fresh fruit, tea, flowers and farmed fishery products were key items as exports rose 11.3 percent in the same period.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
Exports of fruit generated revenue of NT$4.23 billion from January to last month, surpassing revenue of NT$4.02 billion for all of last year, council data showed.
Wax apple sales increased 88 percent from the first half last year, while ponkans (79.5 percent), bananas (70.9 percent), and pineapples and guava (both 66.4 percent) also had significant gains, the data showed.
When export prices for fruit rise, domestic prices usually follow suit, which benefits growers, Chen said.
Exports of perch and tilapia in the first half rose 59 percent and 20.7 percent respectively, council data showed.
The US-China trade dispute has had a positive effect on Taiwan’s agricultural sector, he said.
China used to be the biggest exporter of tilapia to the US, but it has been affected by heavier tariffs imposed by the US, opening the door for Taiwan to benefit, he said, adding that the nation has also been able to import US soybeans more cheaply to make animal fodder.
Instead of relying on established markets in China, Japan and the US, the council plans to expand in the Middle East, Russia and Singapore, as well as countries targeted by the New Southbound Policy, he said.
Next month, it would hold a promotional event in Russia and in September it will set up a booth to promote Taiwanese produce at the HAO Mart in Singapore, the council said, adding that it is also mulling similar events in Saudi Arabia or Dubai in the fourth quarter.
It takes more than one week to ship products from Taiwan to Russia and double that to Middle Eastern countries, so cooling on ships is important to keep products fresh, COA Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS