Beef Prices on the Decline
SOUTH KOREA - With American beef expected to hit local counters soon, beef prices here are already beginning to weaken. Prices for Korean and Australian beef in supermarkets are edging down and sales are slowing. Lotte Mart said Tuesday that in the wake of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S., sales of Australian beef are down about 8 percent from last year.
25 April 2007
2 minute read
"We suspect that the coming import of American beef has affected the sale of Australian beef, "
"We suspect that the coming import of American beef has affected the sale of Australian beef," a Lotte Mart official said. A price comparison by Shinsegae-EMart on March 23 and April 23 shows that the price of first-class Korean beef steaks dropped from W7,850 (US$1=W928) per 100g to W7,600. Chuck roll prices fell from W3,400 to W3,120
Some sellers are offering discounts on Australian beef in preparation for the full-scale arrival of American beef. Lotte Mart said they plan to offer 30 percent discounts between April 26 and May 2 on 10 tons of Australian beef in cold storage that arrived on four airplanes. It's the first time a large domestic supermarket has airlifted imported beef. Samsung Tesco HomePlus will offer similar specials around the same time, with 20 to 30 percent discounts on Korean and Australian beef. Shinsegae-EMart are also planning a special sale on Australian beef for mid-May.
Meanwhile, the food service industry is eager for the American beef to arrive. Park Chang-kyu is the president of Oredream, a beef importer and operator of a chain of restaurants. "Following the conclusion of the Korea-U.S. FTA, the wholesale price of Australian chuck has fallen from W7,300 per kg to W5,000," Park said. "The bubble of the domestic beef prices, which was created when imports of American beef were banned in 2003, will burst."
Experts predict that the resumption of American beef imports will deal a harder blow to Australian and New Zealand exporters, which have dominated Korea's beef market, rather than to local farmers. "In the mid- and long-term, Korean beef is unlikely to be dealt a hard blow," said Lotte Mart's meat importing team. "But American and Australian beef will compete in the import market."
Source: english.chosun.com
