Taiwan

Supply/Demand Basics

  • #6 U.S. agricultural product market ($3.8 billion in MY 2022/2023).
  • #9 U.S. corn market (705 TMT in MY 2022/2023).
  • #4 U.S. barley market (5.5 TMT in MY 2022/2023).
  • #10 U.S. DDGS market (269 TMT in MY 2022/2023).
  • Imported grains meet about 98% of local demand. Feed sector uses about 95% of imported corn.
  • Swine and poultry (including duck) are major coarse grain users.
  • Two wet milling plants producing HFCS, using about five percent of imported corn.
  • Total coarse grain imports maintain at about 4.5 MMT annually.

Country Overview

  • Diplomatic isolation, limited land space, aging population, small agricultural sector and dependent on imported raw materials and fuels.

Trade and Market Share Overview

  • Aging population with a negative growth rate leading to a decrease in overall food consumption.
  • U.S. corn was much less competitive in MY 2022/2023 due to strong USD and logistic issue.
  • DDGS import volume increased because container freight weaken and relatively price competitive to SBM.
  • The location of U.S. barley is far from the container hubs, making it’s hard to compete with Australian barley.
  • Taiwan imported sorghum mostly for liquor production, but U.S. sorghum varieties with less tannin and starch which are not suitable for Taiwanese Baijiu industry.

Policy Overview

  • The government has been encouraging more feed corn and sorghum planting by lifting the restriction of farmland utilization (so-called Big Silo Project) to increase food self-sufficiency.
  • The authorities slowed down the approval process of new GM varieties, and slowly coped with the application of new biotechnology.
  • Taiwan currently does not have a solid policy to support fuel ethanol use but start considering including bio-fuels to be one of carbon reduction.
  • Taiwan Ministry of Agriculture released “Taiwan’s 2050 Net Zero Pathway and Strategy” to accelerate agriculture sustainability, which is a good opportunity to establish US-Taiwan agricultural collaboration by promoting CSAP/SCE.