Peanut Opening Prices Low; Agriculture and Food Agency Urges Not to Suppress Prices with Unimplemented Policies

(Central News Agency reporter Jiang Yijing, Yunlin County, 10th) Yunlin County has recently entered the harvest season for the first crop of peanuts, but opening prices are low. Farmers directly point to the psychological expectations caused by the US-Taiwan Reciprocal Trade Agreement (ART). The Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) urges that unimplemented policies should not be used as a basis to lower the prices of domestic peanuts.

According to AFA statistics, the forecasted planting area for this year's first-crop peanuts is approximately 5,811 hectares, an increase of 690 hectares compared to the same period last year, which is similar to the average planting scale in recent years. Harvesting in early-planted fields began in early June and is expected to peak in mid-to-late June. Currently, the overall harvest ratio is less than 10%.

Yunlin County has recently entered the peanut harvest period, with the opening price at the production site around NT$33. Due to rainfall this week, the moisture content of peanuts is too high, prompting farmers to temporarily suspend harvesting.

Ding Minggui, former chairman of the Republic of China Peanut Industry Association, said in a phone interview today that factors affecting price fluctuations are nothing more than inventory levels, market demand, and production volume. Currently, traders still have inventory, and the issue of US peanuts being imported with zero tariffs is affecting market psychological expectations, impacting peanut prices.

Ding Minggui believes that according to the US-Taiwan Reciprocal Trade Agreement, which includes opening up zero-tariff imports of US peanuts, he hopes that if the government implements policies that sacrifice farmers' income, it must formulate relevant supporting measures to help farmers survive.

The AFA stated that imports of US peanuts still need to follow the current tariff management system, import costs have not changed, and there is no situation of zero-tariff US peanut imports in the market. It urges all parties not to use unimplemented policies as a basis to lower the transaction prices of domestic peanuts, and to jointly maintain market transaction order and farmers' reasonable income.

The AFA pointed out that due to limited arrivals, traders and processors are mostly using a sight-seen transaction method, resulting in small overall market transactions. Subsequent market conditions still need to be continuously observed based on production volume, quality, and transaction situations during the peak harvest period.

The AFA emphasized that it will continue to monitor production and market dynamics in the production areas, and will work with local governments, farmers' groups, and related industry players to respond and provide necessary assistance measures in a timely manner. (Editor: Zhang Mingkun) 1150610