December 3, 2010

South Korean beef, pork prices fall on rising FMD cases

The prices of beef and pork has fallen in South Korea due to the news of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) being found at several more farms.

With FMD being found in cows and pigs on Monday (Nov 29) and Tuesday (Nov 30) in Andong, North Gyeongsang, a mass culling of more than 33,000 heads of cloven-hoofed animals is taking place. About 15,000 animals had been disposed of as of yesterday, December 1.

Meanwhile, health officials in South Chungcheong are taking pre-emptive measures to FMD containment by having 20,000 pigs slaughtered there. Health officials in South Chungcheong said a veterinarian visited two hog farms in Boryeong for checkups on November 26.

Another hog farm in the region the vet visited on November 20 has been put under migration control. According to the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, in North Gyeongsang, an average price of 110 kilogrammes (242 pounds) of pork was KRW294,000 (US$255) as of Tuesday (Nov 30).

The price is a 3.6% decrease from KRW305,000 (US$266.09) on November 19. In the case of beef, the price fell by 7.3% from KRW5.1 million (US$4,449) for 600 kilogrammes to KRW4.7 million (US$4,100) during the same period. The price of pork and beef is expected to drop even further as consumers are fearful of buying contaminated meat.

Meanwhile, two more suspected cases of FMD were reported at other cattle farms in Andong, located four kilometres and 3.5 kilometres away from the farm where the first foot-and-mouth disease case was found yesterday. Health officials have closed 85 livestock markets nationwide to prevent the further spread of the disease, requiring that the trading be done via the Internet and phone calls.