Taiwan: Banana and pineapple prices stabilize

The Taiwan Agricultural Committee said yesterday that the prices of bananas and pineapples have stabilized. At the same time, the organization urged the local media to stop publishing fake or misleading reports because it could have a negative impact on the livelihood of farmers.

The committee said that due to the warmer weather and less rainfall this year, the production of many crops are in surplus, especially tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples and mangoes. With prices plunging, the committee has been the subject of public opinion over the past few months. Yesterday, the average price of bananas in Taipei's wholesale market was 18.4 Taiwan dollars (0.53 euros) per kilogram. Deputy Commission Minister Chen Zhizhong stated that the agency had reached the target of raising the price to 15 TWD (0.43 EUR) per kilogram last week.

Therefore, those media reports that said the price of bananas and pineapples were falling to a level beyond the committee's control were incorrect. When talking about several reports published on Monday by the China Times, he said that it is misleading that these reports claim that the Taiwan government's cross-strait policy is to blame for the decline in Taiwan's crop exports. He said that these reports have affected local farmers and might be used by retailers to demand lower prices. He also called for China Times to issue a correction statement.

According to Taipeitimes.com, the committee stated that Taiwan's total fruit exports during the first five months of this year were 43,570 tons, which worth US$79 million. This was the highest level in ten years, and in particular pineapple exports have a total of 31,947 tons from the beginning of the year to last Sunday. It reached the highest level since 2012.