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Food News Clipping

March 14, 2011

2011.03.15

FAS/Seoul Monitoring of Media Reporting on Agricultural Issues

Today's Date: March Monday 14, 2011

For Coverage: March 11 - 14, 2011

1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

FTA with EU may be passed next month [English, CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2933309

Summary: The free trade agreement between Korea and the European Union could be approved in next month’s legislative session, a ruling party lawmaker said yesterday, but a representative of the main opposition Democratic Party denied the report. “Key ruling and opposition members of the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee of the National Assembly decided to convene the committee’s first plenary meeting in mid-April,” Representative Nam Kyung-pil, a legislator of the ruling Grand National Party who chairs the committee, told Yonhap News Agency. “The meeting will pass a ratification motion for the Korea-EU FTA.”

2. GRAIN & OILSEED ISSUES

S. Korea to Increase Overseas Farming on Record Food Costs [English, CSY]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-10/south-korea-expects-more-overseas-farming-on-record-food-costs.html

Summary:

South Korea

, the world’s third- biggest corn buyer, may increase grain production overseas as the country seeks to boost food security amid record global prices, the government said. South Korea is looking to overseas farming to ensure stable supplies because its grain self-sufficiency is very low and there’s limited room to boost production at home,” said Kim Wha Nyeon, a research fellow at Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul. About 60 companies were involved in farming in 16 countries by the end of 2010, harvesting about 87,000 metric tons of grain from 24,000 hectares of farmland, the ministry today, without naming the firms.

3. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Prices for seafood and snacks expected to rise [English, CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2933393

Summary: Among the repercussions of the disastrous earthquake in Japan, consumer prices are expected to rise due to a shortage of seafood and snacks. For example, the local supply of pollack - whose entire quantity is imported from Japan - is in jeopardy. Department stores and large wholesale markets are expected to encounter problems in procuring Japanese processed food like candy, snacks and other key products such as soybean sauce or soybean paste, which compose 10 to 15 percent of all imported food products.

S. Korea, U.S. to meet to discuss fisheries cooperation [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/03/13/0501000000AEN20110313001200320.HTML

Summary: South Korea and the United States plan to hold a high-level meeting this week to discuss how to promote policy cooperation in fisheries, government officials said Sunday. At the three-day meeting, which is scheduled to start on Monday, Lim Kwang-soo, head of the fisheries policy office at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will lead a South Korean delegation, while the United States will be represented by Russell Smith, deputy assistant secretary for International Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

S. Korea set to store imported fish to cope with price hikes [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/03/10/77/0501000000AEN20110310002900320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea plans to store imported fish this year to better control price hikes that have been cited for contributing to the country's inflationary pressure, the government said Thursday. The decision comes after prices for fish jumped 11.4 percent on-year in February, mainly due to a supply shortage. The hike in agricultural and fisheries was the main reason for the country's consumer inflation rate of 4.5 percent last month. "The shortfall in supply was mainly due to less fish caught in coastal waters and by South Korean ships operating in distant waters," the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. Because the overall haul in coastal waters may not improve for the near future because of lower than average water temperatures, Seoul has opted to buy imported fish and hold these in storage, it said.

Fish Supply Likely to Drop due to the Earthquake in Japan [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/Economy/Market/3/0108/20110313/35540935/1

Summary: Fresh fish imported from Japan is expected to drop significantly due to the earthquake in Japan. Currently major fish imported from Japan include cutlass (Hairtail), mackerel, and pollack. Local retailers are already looking for alternative sources.

The information in this report was compiled by the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. The press summaries contained herein do NOT reflect USDA, the U.S. Embassy, or other U.S. government agency official policy or view point. U.S. food exporters can learn more about market opportunities in South Korea by reviewing ATO Seoul’s Exporter Guide and other reports available at www.fas.usda.gov by clicking on “attaché reports”.

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