The recently released statistics by the Statistics Department of Taiwan's "Ministry of Finance" pointed out that due to the impact of the suspension on the imports to the Chinese mainland, the annual growth rate of Taiwan's pineapple, Shakya, and wax apples fell sharply by 40.6%, 85.9% and 92% from January to February this year. Considering that a variety of fruits have not yet reached the peak production period, the export performance of fruit in Taiwan is unsatisfactory.
In February last year, the Customs Administration of the Chinese Mainland announced that it had inspected shell insects from Taiwan's pineapple and therefore banned its import. In September last year, it was announced that the "ocean gluteal mealybug" was found in Shakya and wax apples and these fruits were banned for import.
The Statistics Office of Taiwan's "Ministry of Finance" issued a financial statistics circular and it pointed out that although Taiwan has a variety of fruits available for consumption throughout the year, their export performance is affected by the factors of production costs, quality control, intolerance to storage and transportation and other issues. Taking 2020 as an example, on top of Shakya and pineapple, the export volume of the other main items was less than 10% of the total output.
From the perspective of the trade, the Shakya, wax apples, and grapefruit were mainly exported to the mainland last year, accounting for 70%-90% of the total export. Affected by the ban from the mainland, pineapples were sent to open up the Japanese and Hong Kong markets, accounting for 63.2% and 22.1% of its export respectively, and the proportion of the export to the mainland dropped from 90% in 2020 to 12.9%. The destinations of mango export were more scattered, with Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea accounting for 20%-30%. Guava, lime, and bananas were sold to Canada, Singapore, and Japan, accounting for 60%, 50%, and 99.7% of the total export respectively.
In terms of imports, most of them are temperate fruits. Apples, kiwifruit, and cherries are imported in bulk. The import value of kiwifruit increased by 89.6%, making the largest increase in January and February this year.
According to statistical results, wax apple had the highest average unit price among the fruits exported by Taiwan last year, with a price of US$4 per kilogram. The price of the rest fruits ranged between US$1.3-3.5. Cherry had the highest price among the imported fruits, with US$9.20 per kilogram. As for the apples, they were mainly imported from Japan and the United States. More than 90% of the imported kiwifruit came from New Zealand. Nearly half of the cherries and grapes were purchased from the United States.
Source: Sing Tao News