April 22, 2008

Australia sure it will keep share of South Korea beef market

Australia is confident it will be able to keep up to 50 percent of the South Korean beef import market, even as Seoul decided to resume US beef imports.

In 2007, Australia exported A$900 million (US$845 million) of beef to Korea and at present holds about 75 percent of the import market, up from about 30 percent before US beef was banned in 2003 due to BSE.

Officials admit that Australia's market share will decrease due to US imports but they believe that Korea's appetite for Australian beef established over the past four years will last.

There will still be demand for Australian beef, said Glen Feast, South Korea manager for Meat & Livestock Australia.

Last week, Korea has agreed to resume US beef imports. It will initially allow bone-in beef from cattle less than 30 months, while beef from older cattle will be allowed once US safety standards are improved.

Australia was able to keep its 75 percent market share despite a limited reopening of the Korean market to US beef last year to permit imports of boneless beef from cattle younger than 30 months.