May 3, 2004

Korea Beef Trade Steady

Importing companies in Korea with stocks of U.S. chuck roll and short rib are naming their price in the wholesale market, as stocks continue to fall. Prices for these two items are now trading at 13,500 won a kg (A$15.84 a kg) and 17,500 won a kg (A$19.90 a kg), respectively.

Prices for some Australian product recorded slight increases on last week's levels, but in general, prices were stable. The wholesale market is expected to pick up in the next few weeks in anticipation of the high consumption period in May.

Korean beef imports (customs cleared) totalled 14,282 tonnes for the month of March - 48 percent below March 2003, but 62 percent above February 2004.

The fall on last year is due to the absence of U.S. beef in the Korean market (U.S. imports accounted for 69 percent of total beef imports in Korea in 2003), higher beef prices and the adverse reaction Koreans have had to beef since the announcement of BSE in the United States in December last year.

Although consumption has partly recovered since its falls in January, it is yet to reach pre-BSE levels.

Australian chilled beef imports continued to rise, up three percent on March 2003 to 614 tonnes for the month. The rise in chilled products has steadily grown since the introduction of regulations allowing the freezing down of chilled beef in 2002.

Frozen Australian beef imports were down by 12 percent on the previous March, with frozen U.S. product, which entered Korea prior to the import ban, still available.

High prices being paid for both chilled and frozen product are reflected in the increased value of imports from Australia.

While total Korean imports are expected to remain below last year's levels, imports of Australian beef are expected to strengthen, as product enters the country in anticipation of the wedding and holiday season in May.

Taiwanese beef imports in the fiscal year to January (latest available data) show that 38,034 tonnes of beef was imported over the period, two percent above the same period last year.

The improvements occurred mainly from New Zealand and U.S. beef imports, which were up 60 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Despite this, Australia still enjoyed a 47 percent share of the imported market, compared with New Zealand's 27 percent and the U.S.'s 25 percent share. Canada's share over the period was less than one percent.

Australia's share is expected to have improved over the first quarter of this year due.