North Jeolla Province's Onions Exported to Taiwan for First Time This Year... "Hoping to Resolve Supply Surplus"

(Jeonju=Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Young-soo = Jeonbuk Agricultural Cooperative announced on the 18th that it held a shipping ceremony for this year's "first export to Taiwan" at the Jeonju Horticultural Agricultural Cooperative's local distribution center to resolve oversupply due to increased domestic onion production.

Jeonbuk Agricultural Cooperative and Jeonju Horticultural Agricultural Cooperative will export 96 tons of domestic new onions to Taiwan for the first time this year, as overproduction is expected to lead to price declines.

According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, domestic onion production this year is 1.09 million tons, 3.3% higher than the average year.

Although the cultivation area decreased by 4% from the previous year, smooth growth during the harvest season and increased production have caused onion wholesale prices to drop by around 35%.

Head of Department Lee Jung-hwan said, "Recently, as the volume of wholesale market imports has increased, onion prices are much lower than last year" and "we will contribute to stabilizing onion supply by exporting domestic production volumes to overseas markets."

kan@yna.co.kr