May 26, 2004

Korean Farmers Witness Lower Hanwoo Cattle Prices

Over recent months, Korean Hanwoo farmers have witnessed significant drops in live cattle prices.  The price for a 500kg Hanwoo female, which sold for around 5.1 million won in December 2003, had fallen by 12.7% to 4.45 million won at the end of April, a decrease of 7% on the same month last year.  Male 500kg Hanwoo cattle prices have slipped further, losing 20% from 4.0 million won in December to 3.2 million won in April. 

During this period, there has been no reduction in retail and foodservice prices for beef.  Consumers and the Korean Hanwoo association are pointing to these continued high prices as an obstacle to improving consumption.  Restaurateurs say that the problem also lies with wholesalers, who are keeping the price of beef at high levels. 

In response, the Korea Federation of Meat Purveyors has announced plans to lower Hanwoo beef prices by 10% in its member stores.  The organisation has 31,000 butcher outlet members, representing approximately 66% of all total butchers in Korea. 

However, one of the major factors which is keeping prices at high levels is the fall in offal sales since the announcement of BSE in the US.  Without adequate sales of offal products (which have been highly priced in the Korean market), wholesalers maintain they must keep beef prices at high levels in order to recover costs.