April 22, 2009

South Korea may, for the first time, allow private food processors to directly import 30,000 tonnes of food grade soy, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

The report didn't give a timeline for the government for allowing such imports. Currently, food grade soy is imported by the state-run Korea Agro-Fishery Trade Corporation.

USDA also said overall soy and soymeal imports by South Korea in the marketing year beginning October 1 will remain flat on-year.

The report said while soy imports are forecast to remain flat at 1.2 million tonnes, soymeal imports are expected to remain unchanged at 1.7 million tonnes.

However, soyoil imports are likely to rise to 450,000 tonnes in 2009-10, up 10 percent on-year, on the back of a strong demand from the biodiesel industry.