The farm price of eggs will be fixed until the end of February and subsidies will be given to farmers to keep prices stable amid a severe egg shortage seen in Taiwan in recent weeks, the Council of Agriculture (COA) announced Monday.

The price for eggs paid to farmers will be NT$57.5 (US$2.05) per kilogram until the end of February, and farmers will receive a subsidy of NT$5 per kilogram to reduce their production costs and counter the lack of eggs on store shelves, COA chief Chen Chi-chung (???) said.

The production cost subsidy should help address the shortage, which has been caused by cold weather and the rising cost of feed, Chen said.

The COA made the decision after an emergency meeting earlier in the day to deal with the issue that started in January prior to the just-concluded Lunar New Year holiday.

Currently, Taiwan consumes 120,000-130,000 boxes (200 eggs in one box) of eggs per day, but daily supplies have only reached 100,000 boxes.

At the same time, the retail price of white eggs has risen up to 50 percent in recent months to NT$72-NT$83 per kilogram, local media reported.

According to Chen, the prices of agricultural commodities, such as soybeans, corn and wheat, have risen by over 40 percent since last year, pushing the price of feed for chickens up by 20-25 percent, Chen said.

The subsidy will stay in place until the end of this month to offset the rise in commodity prices, and its NT$100 million (US$3.38 million) cost will be paid by a foundation under the COA, according to Chen.

Meanwhile, the COA will closely watch whether the measure is effective in stabilizing production costs and the price of eggs on the local market, and review it by the end of February, he said.

The COA is also planning to import 10 containers of eggs from Australia, Japan and the United States in the coming two months to help with the shortage, he said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel