July 3, 2012

Korean wholesale market affected by tariff-free pork

Tariff-free pork imports, on top of low beef demand, high beef stocks and belt-tightening moves by importing companies result in slow trading in the Korean wholesale market.

Meat stocks have been reportedly pushed to the limit, assisted by Korea's on-going imports of tariff-free pork following the foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease outbreaks in late 2010. In the first six months this year, Korea imported 100,000 tonnes of tariff-free pork with an additional 50,000 tonnes expected to be imported trough to the end of the year.

The Korean Swine Association said earlier this year that the tariff-free imports are hurting Korean pig farmers, as prices continue to drop, along with the rising cost of production and lower import tariffs on US and EU pork, due to Free Trade Agreements signed earlier this year.

Korean beef imports in May totalled 20,688 tonnes - decreasing 19% on-year and 7% on the previous month, according to the Korean International Trade Association (KITA). The fall in imports was caused mostly by the delay in US beef imports at Korean customs, as the government increased their inspection ratio sharply after the US reported a new case of BSE in April this year.