June 8, 2007

South Korea imports more Australian beef in May

South Korea's beef purchases from Australia totalled 8,841 tonnes swt (slaughterweight) in May, up 18 percent from April, but 32 percent below the same month last year. Total exports to South Korea for the first five months of the year reached 58,276 tonnes swt, 21 percent above the same period in 2006, figures from Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry show.

Australia's chilled beef exports to South Korea remained solid in May, with 2,116 tonnes shipped, just 3 percent below May 2006, while chilled shipments for the five months to May were up by 33 percent compared with 2006. The strong retail and foodservice/hotel demand for the holiday and wedding season in Korea has boosted demand for Australian chilled beef.

Frozen exports were down 37 percent month on month but remained 18 percent in the January to May period above 2006 due to high export demand in the first months of this year.