August 13, 2009
South Korea favours Australian beef over US supplies
The volume of US beef imports in South Korea was only half of Australian beef imports.
South Korea imported 21,400 tonnes of US beef in the first half of 2009, while imports of Australian beef amounted to 47,000 tonnes, according to the Korea Customs Service on Wednesday (Aug 12).
The customs agency said a total of 87,639 tonnes of beef were imported over the period, including about 17,000 tonnes of New Zealand beef and 1,200 tonnes of Mexican beef.
After South Korea resumed US beef imports in the third quarter last year, purchases showed increases between the third and fourth quarter but it have since declined steadily.
South Korea imported about 10,790 tonnes of US beef in the first quarter of 2009, down 7,000 tonnes from the previous quarter.
Analysts said the fact that imports of US beef imports are sluggish despite its lower prices than Korean or Australian beef shows that local consumers still have a negative view of the product.
