Blaine on Taiwan

Blaine on Taiwan

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
As Idaho farmers finished the last of the 2019 wheat crop harvest, good news from the Idaho statehouse. Representatives of the Taiwan Flour Mills Association on Sept. 24 signed a letter of intent with the Idaho Wheat Commission to purchase 66.1 million bushels of U.S. wheat in 2020 and 2021. The deal is valued at about $576 million.

Idaho's crop is not as big as last year. Market prices are flat. So announcement of the deal will help Idaho farmers. It will help them move wheat from storage to export.

Executive director of the Wheat Commission, Blaine Jacobson. “Today, they signed a letter of intent to buy five hundred seventy six million dollars worth of wheat. That should give some lift to the market. There is a large world wheat crop out there. But the more we can find customers like Taiwan to take wheat, the more movement it gives the growers.”

As both sides in the trade deal sat down to sign the agreement, another startling fact. Idaho will shift one point eight million tons of wheat over the next two years to Taiwan.

(Blaine) “Taiwan is a very loyal, very long term customer, and they buy quality wheat. They pay a premium price for some of Idaho’s best wheat.”

According to a Taiwan trade official, per capita wheat consumption in Taiwan, for the first time ever, has passed rice consumption. That's good news for Idaho farmers and could open the door for more long term trade deals.

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