South Korea: imported pork prices jump 10.6%

South Korea’s imported pork prices increased by 10.6% despite the general negative growth of imported farm goods for four straight months in June, customs data showed.

The import price index for agricultural, livestock and fishery products reached 122.2 points in June, down 3.1% from a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS). From a month before, the index gained 4.3 percent.

The index logged the on-year decline for four months in a row after posting its first on-year drop in 17 months in March.

Prices for imported agricultural products retreated 3.5% in June from a year before. Prices for seasoning vegetable such as red pepper, garlic and onions showed an overall downward trend last month, while prices for cereals and nuts mostly showed upward trend.

Imported livestock product prices dipped 0.4% on-year in June, down from a 3.5% rise tallied in May. Prices for chicken meat and pork jumped 45.6% and 10.6% each, but beef prices were down 2.7 percent last month.

Fisheries
Meanwhile, prices for fishery products advanced 0.3% on- year in June, down from a 2.5 % advance in the previous month. Prices of scallop, pollack and webfoot octopus jumped 37.7%, 32% and 20% each, but those of hairtail and small octopus declined 5.1% and 16.6% each.

Source: Xinhua