February 22, 2011

South Korea's imports of US farm products soars in 2010

South Korea imported farm products worth a total of US$5.3 billion from the US in 2010, becoming the sixth largest importer of grain and meat products from America in the world.

This was according to the government on Monday (Feb 21).

The total marked the second largest annual import figure after the US$5.56 billion reported in 2008, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a report.

The ministry's findings, based on data provided by the USDA, also showed imports surging 35.5% from the US$3.91 billion reached in 2009.

South Korea, which consumes roughly 20 million tonnes of grain and large amounts of fish and meat annually, imports about 15 million tonnes of wheat, beans and corn from abroad to meet its domestic requirements.

The report, meanwhile, said China was the largest importer of US farm products as of last year, overtaking Canada, which had held the title since 2002.

Canada, Mexico, Japan and the EU were the other top five importers of US-produced farm products, last year.