17/12/2006
Taiwan, facing surging maize price at home and abroad, plans to import 500,000 tons of maize from China, a newspaper said Sunday.
The Commercial Times said that the Bureau of Foreign Trade has approved the purchase of 500,000 tons of maize, or 10 per cent of Taiwan's average annual imports, from China on a case by case basis.
Taiwan Feed Industry Association is negotiating the purchase with the China Cereals Oilseeds and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), the paper said.
In recent months the price of maize, used as feed for livestock including hogs, cattle and sheep, has risen both abroad and in Taiwan. In Taiwan, it is now at a 10-year hight of 210 US dollars per ton.
Taiwan is still waiting for COFCO to quote the price for the maize from China but believes it will be about 200 dollars per ton, the Commercial Times said.
Taiwan has regarded China as its enemy since 1949, when the Chinese Civil War split Taiwan and China.
Taiwan has allowed indirect trade with China since the late 1980s but strictly screens bilateral trade and Taiwanese investments in China to prevent China taking control of Taiwan's economy.
