August 3, 2015

Declining global prices and a fall in domestic demand had caused a close to 6% on-year slid of South Korea's grain imports during the first half of 2015, according to data by the Korea Customs Service (KCS).

In the period, imports of corn and wheat, together with rice, barley and oats, fell by 6.1% from 2014, to US$1.86 billion this year. Additionally, imports dropped 0.8% from the same period last year, to 7.22 million tonnes in 2015.

For corn alone, imports declined 12.5% on-year to US$1.14 billion in the January – June period of 2015.

While corn, wheat, rice, barley and oats made up 99.8% of cereals imported by South Korea, corn dominates the percentage with an impressive 70.8% share. Wheat accounted for 26%.

The US is the biggest export of corn and wheat to South Korea, said the KCS.