July 9, 2004

South Korea's Beef Imports Declining Sharply
 

South Korea's imports of beef greatly decreased in the first half of this year as more consumers opted for pork amid a prolonged economic slump, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said Friday.

During the January-June period, there were 75,886 tons of beef imports, a 48.5-percent decline from the same period of last year, it said.

But pork imports were estimated at 55,207 tons during the six-month period, up 63.2 percent from the corresponding period in 2003, the ministry said.

"Beef is a relatively expensive meat product, so the consumption is heavily swayed by local business cycles," the ministry said.

Another major factor for beef imports was South Korea's import ban on American beef in December last year, the ministry said.

After an outbreak of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was confirmed at a farm in the state of Washington in December, South Korea imposed a ban on American beef imports.

Before the ban, South Korea had been the third-largest importer of U.S. beef, which accounted for 68 percent of the country's 294,000 tons of total beef imports in 2003.

South Korea imported 44,993 tons of beef from Australia, 3,658 tons from New Zealand and 235 tons from Mexico during the first six months of this year.

As for pork products, South Korea imported 9,303 tons from Belgium, 8,329 tons from Chile, 7,957 tons from the United States, 6,872 tons from Denmark and 6,012 tons from France.