The Poultry Association on Monday raised the wholesale price of domestically produced eggs by NT$2 to N$52 per 600g, the Council of Agriculture said.
An uptick in avian flu infections and large temperature swings last year have had an impact on egg production, with daily output currently down to 114,000 cartons (200 eggs per carton), Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Daily production at the end of December was 122,000 cartons per day, the council said on Tuesday last week.
Photo: CNA
The wholesale price hike was recently finalized by the association’s committee on the production and sales of eggs, Chen said, adding that the council respected the decision made by the committee whose members consist of egg farmers and merchants.
The price of eggs should be determined by the market, Department of Animal Industry Deputy Director Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全) said on Sunday.
Since the end of the Lunar New Year holiday, egg production has again decreased due to the drop in the number of egg-laying hens, while the cost of feed remains high, Chiang said, quoting poultry farmers.
The hens are currently undergoing a molting phase, which is estimated to last for about three weeks, he said, adding that egg supply should be able to return to what it was before the holiday break.
During molting, chickens generally stop laying eggs and recommence laying when their feathers have regrown.
Egg supply was previously affected by the cold weather and bird flu, and now farmers are faced with the molting period, egg distributors said on Monday.
Supermarket chains PX Mart and a.mart said they would not raise the price of eggs for the time being as stocks are plentiful, while French retailer Carrefour said it as discussing with suppliers to increase purchase volume.
Faced with rising feed costs and falling egg production, Chen said the government would continue to waive business taxes on imported raw materials, such as corn, to aid chicken farmers.
The objective for now is to ensure a stable supply of eggs to consumers, while the long-term goal is to comprehensively modernize local poultry farms to reduce the impact of bird flu and extreme weather, he said.
Effective today, the producer price of farm eggs would also be hiked by NT$2 to NT$42.5 per 600g, the council said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS