August 27, 2014

South Korea sees increased imports of US beef, pork

With strong growths in imports, South Korea is one of the top-performing markets for US beef and pork during the first half of 2014.

In the first half of the year, South Korea imported 56,478 tonnes of US beef, up 11% on-year. Beef imports were valued at nearly US$380 million, soaring 40% on-year. The country also imported 77,209 tonnes of US pork, up 31% in volume and 48% in value (US$236.3 million).

Dan Halstrom, US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) senior vice president for marketing and communications, said that the misperceptions about the safety of US beef among Korean consumers is still an ongoing challenge. However, marketing branded US beef products has become an effective strategy, as local consumers enjoy learning more about the origin and unique attributes of the products.

Halstrom also mentioned that US pork exports to South Korea remained strong despite surging European pork into the market. Shut out of the Russian market since January, prices of EU's pork were lower and exporters became more aggressive in marketing.