TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Starting from Monday (Sept. 4), the price of eggs will increase by NT$3 (US$0.09) per catty, a unit of measurement equal to 0.6 kilograms.

A committee of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) tasked with evaluating the price of eggs met on Sunday (Sept. 3). They announced that the standard wholesale price per catty will rise to NT$43.5 (US$1.36), and the standard retail price will be NT$53 (US$1.66) yuan per catty.

The committee’s reasoning for the price increase is that the public appetite to buy eggs has gradually increased over the past two months, and production costs have also increased, reported TVBS.

In June 2023, the price of eggs was lowered to NT$40.5 per catty (US$1.26) to boost consumption and assist local egg producers recover after egg shortages and increases in production costs incurred earlier in the year.

According to the MOA, the number of egg producing hens in Taiwan has reached 33.59 million and daily domestic egg production is close to 22.9 million eggs.

Although domestic egg production has not completely recovered to its previous capacity, production has stabilized and demand has increased. Therefore, the price increase is merited, according to the committee.