Taiwan’s apple imports over the 2011/12 season fell to their lowest level since 2004, according to a recent report from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
Taiwanese overall apple imports dropped 20 per cent to 118,662 tonnes valued at US$131m, according to the report, with volumes from every supplier except the US declining.
The report blamed the decline on the flood of Chilean apples in the previous season, which had driven down prices. The high volume caused financial losses for importers and made them more wary of placing orders, the report said.
Import volumes from Japan and South Korea fell in particular, however. Eleven shipments of Korean apples were rejected by Taiwanese customs officers over the course of the season because of high pesticide residue levels, which caused significant disruption to the trade there.
On the Japanese side, two shipments were rejected because of MRL violations, and demand was also affected by consumer concern about radiation contamination following Japan’s March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
US imports, on the other hand, increased 2 per cent to 50,132 tonnes, shifting the country back into pole position as the largest supplier of fresh apples into the Taiwanese market, after being overtaken by Chile the previous season. The US held a 42 per cent share of imports over 2011/12, while Chile dropped to 37 per cent, followed by New Zealand at 10 per cent, Japan at 7 per cent, Korea at 2 per cent and South Africa at 1 per cent.
Fuji apples remained the vast majority of imports, accounting for 90 per cent of total apple retail sales for the period.
