According to a spokesperson from Taiwan's Agriculture and Food Agency, it will increase the supply of vegetables this week to wholesale markets. The goal is to stabilize prices in the countdown to Lunar New Year's Day, amid speculation of price hikes.
Deputy Director-General Yao Chih-wang said that while fruit and vegetable wholesale markets will be off on Monday, fruit and vegetable trading will peak in the three days from January 17-19 before the 10-day Lunar New Year holiday begins on January 20.
To meet the expected increase in demand, the vegetable supply to Taipei fruit and vegetable wholesale markets will be raised from Sunday's 1,672 tons to possibly more than 2,000 tons before the start of the holiday, Yao said, attributing the move as an attempt to stabilize prices.
On Sunday, the average price of leafy vegetables was NT$19.9 per kg in Taipei, down by NT$7.1 or 26.5 percent from the average price of NT$27 per kg recorded on January 10, the data indicated, while the price for the benchmark vegetable cabbage fell from NT$19.9 per kg to NT15.3 per kg, marking a 22.8-percent decline.
Source: focustaiwan.tw
