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This report highlights Japan’s food processing industry, notable trends, and a new market snapshot of western Japan processors. The industry benefited from a slightly higher exchange rate in relation to the dollar in 2021, compared to 2020, allowing the industry to experience marginal growth by value, totaling $216.4 billion.

Since the beginning of 2022, Taiwan’s table egg prices continue to set new price records. The egg wholesale market closed at an all-time high price of 80NTD ($2.81USD) per kilogram on March 15. The primary contributors to the recent spike in table egg prices are lower placement of laying hens resulted from high feed prices, culling of birds contaminated by avian influenza, and lower seasonal production cycle.

This report is a voluntary update to GAIN Report TW2020-0014, published February 25, 2020. The report provides a brief introduction to Taiwan’s pesticide residue policy to include maximum residue limit (MRL) import tolerance applications, up-to-date MRL database, frequently used residue testing methods and recent MRL announcement history.

Taiwan's economy is booming with the GDP forecasted to increase 4.42 percent in 2022. In 2021, Taiwan imported $3.93 billion worth of agricultural and food products from the US, making it the 6th largest market for U.S. agricultural products.

FAS Tokyo projects Japan’s overall demand for feed grain to remain robust in MY2021/22 and MY2022/23 as livestock production expands. FAS Tokyo anticipates corn imports to decrease in MY2021/22 and MY2022/23 as feed millers increase the ratio of low-cost rice at the expense of corn in compound feed.

The Japanese Diet is poised to allocate a combined total of 3.2 trillion yen ($27.7 billion) to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) from the Government of Japan's 2021 supplementary budget and 2022 annual budget. MAFF's budget will see increased funding for export facilitation, smart agriculture development, and implementation of MAFF's Green Food System Strategy.

Cattle stocks are projected to expand in 2022 as slaughter slowed in late 2021. In the dairy sector, cow slaughter is likely to increase in 2022 to lower excess milk production.

As the world’s third largest vegetarian market with an increasing flexitarian population, Taiwan bodes well for the ingredients that address low fat, high fiber, and plant-based protein.