June 19, 2007

South Korea's cattle slaughter on the rise

Cattle farmers from South Korea are hoping for a drop in prices for domestic beef as slaughter for local cattle surges in respond to the resumption of US beef imports under the South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA).

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation on Monday (June 18), the number of Korean beef cattle slaughtered between January and May was up by 15.9 percent over the same period last year, from 171,181 to 198,421 tonnes.

The number of slaughtered cows jumped by 24.7 percent from 63,461 to 79,109, more than twice as high from the increase of slaughtered bulls of 10.8 percent year-on-year. Consequently, prices of cows and female calves fell sharply compared with the previous year.

As of June 15, the nationwide average price for a 600-kg cow fell by 7.7 percent compared with prices at the end of last year to 4.82 million won (US$1=W938). Average price for a female calf also dropped by 2.29 million won or 18.1 percent.