New figures released by the International Cooperation department under the Council of Agriculture (COA) have revealed that Taiwan's fruit exports during the first half of the year increased in both volume and value, up 60.8 per cent (to 19,527 tonnes) and 28.1 per cent (to US$26.71m) respectively.
According to COA officials, fruit such as pineapples, mangoes, lychees and tangerines enjoyed particular growth through the six-month period, The China Post reported, mainly to key markets including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and the US.
Mango shipments increased to 2,017 tonnes at US$5.2m during the period, mainly heading to Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, with pineapple exports jumping to 1,602 tonnes from 753 tonnes in 2008, at a value of US$1.2m.
Lychee shipments, which were mainly exported to China, doubled to 1,170 tonnes at a value of US$874,000, up from the 574 tonnes (US$365,000) last year.
The key importers all took on more fruit during the first half of 2009, with exports to Japan up to 8,688 tonnes at a value of US$14.6m, shipments to Hong Kong rising to 4,547 tonnes worth US$3.5m and exports to China increasing 185.7 per cent 2,982 tonnes worth US$2.6m.
