December 5, 2013

Despite a slight drop in the volume of incoming shipments due to a large price increase, South Korea's grain imports surged significantly from a year earlier.

In January-October of 2013, South Korea purchased some 3.98 million tonnes of grain, down 0.2% from the same period last year, according to the Korea Customs Service. However, the amount of money the country spent on purchasing grain imports surged 18% on-year to about US$1.7 billion. The agency attributed the increase to rising prices.

For instance, the country's imports of wheat dropped 4.8% on-year to 1.86 million tonnes over the 10-month period, but its spending on wheat imports grew 7.2% to US$720 million as the average price of wheat jumped 12.6% to US$388/tonne, it said.

The average price of corn, too, had gained 6.2% on-year to US$349/tonne, but the country's overall spending on corn imports slipped 6.2% as the volume of imports plunged 11.7% to 1.5 million tonnes, it said.