The Agriculture and Food Agency said it plans this week to increase the supply of vegetables to wholesale markets to stabilize prices amid speculation of price hikes as the Lunar New Year holiday approaches.
Agency deputy director-general Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) yesterday said that fruit and vegetable trading is expected to peak between tomorrow and Thursday before the 10-day Lunar New Year holiday begins on Jan. 20.
Fruit and vegetable wholesale markets are to close on Monday next week, he added.
Photo: CNA
To meet an expected demand surge, the vegetable supply to Taipei wholesale produce markets is to increase from yesterday’s 1,672 tonnes to an estimated 2,000 tonnes before the start of the holiday, Yao said, adding that the move is an attempt to stabilize prices.
The average price of vegetables traded at Taipei’s wholesale markets stood at NT$35.2 per kilogram on Tuesday, the first market day of the week, and dropped to NT$30.1 per kilogram yesterday, representing a 14.5 percent price drop, the agency’s data showed.
The average price of leafy vegetables yesterday in Taipei was NT$19.9 per kilogram, down by NT$7.1, or 26.5 percent, from an average of NT$27 per kilogram recorded on Tuesday.
The price for cabbage fell from NT$19.9 per kilogram to NT$15.3 per kilogram, marking a 22.8-percent decline.
Several vendors at Taipei wet markets said yesterday that there had been a price decline over the past few days, but they expected prices to rebound in the final week of the lunar calendar’s Year of the Tiger.
At several wet markets in the capital yesterday, the price for cabbage, a benchmark vegetable, was NT$29 per 600 grams, down from NT$33 on Tuesday.
An average cabbage was sold for about NT$72 at retail markets yesterday, down from NT$85 the previous day.
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