S. Korea’s Imports of US Beef Rise 81% in 2011

South Korea’s imports of U.S. beef rose as much as 81.6 percent in two months this year to reach 20,340 tons, largely driven by the country’s severest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that has culled more than 3 million livestock in the country.

According to the data from the U.S. Meat Export Federation, last year, South Korea imported only 11,209 tons of U.S. beef in the same periods. In 2010, the country’s imports of U.S. beef posted a 94 percent increase compared with the year before.

South Korea has been agonizing due to the massive outbreak of foot-and -mouth disease and culling skyrocketing, mostly pigs and partially cattle, have been slaughtered.

This year’s imports from U.S. so far account for almost one-fifth of the total imports volume of 2010, which stood at about 1 million tons.

The four biggest foreign buyers of U.S beef last year were Mexico, Canada, Japan and South Korea, respectively. Korea has been the biggest growing market for U.S. beef in recent years. Together they purchase 66 percent of U.S. total beef exports.

(아주경제 송지영 기자)

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com