South Korea's Q4 hanwoo beef prices hit record high

Prices for a head of domestically raised beef cattle in South Korea hit a record high in the fourth quarter of last year due to a surge in demand.

The price for a Korean breed of cattle averaged KRW5.73 million (US$5,099) per 600kg head as of November 2009, compared with KRW5.54 million (US$4,930) from eight years ago.

The price increase stemmed from a rise in demand for homegrown beef as the market share held by imported beef has declined.

A total of 2.63 million head of hanwoo cattle were raised in South Korea during the October-December period, down 0.2% from the third quarter of 2009, partly due to seasonal factors.