1. GRAIN & OILSEED ISSUES

Wheat flour price was increased by 8.6 percent (Korean: CSC)

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2011040169361

(Summary: Dong-Ah-Won, one of leading wheat millers, announced to increase their wheat flour prices by 8.6 percent on average on April 5, 2011.  The wheat miller has done their best to postpone increasing wheat flour price in line with government domestic price control despite surging international wheat market prices since last year.  However, as bullish trend of international wheat market has continued, they have finally resorted to the increase of domestic prices.  Other flour millers are expected to follow the miller’s price policy.)

S. Korea's rice wine output falls amid slowing demand [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/04/04/95/0503000000AEN20110404001500320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea's production of makgeolli rice wine fell for the first time in 32 months in February amid slowing demand from strong consumption over past few years, data showed Monday.   Makgeolli production came to 24,395 kiloliters in February, down 6.8 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the data provided by Statistics Korea. That marked the first on-year contraction since June 2008.  Shipments for domestic consumption also fell for the first time since June 2008. A total of 22,753 kiloliters of makgeolli were shipped for consumption here in the cited month, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.   Those declines were attributed to slowing demand relative to the previous years' enthusiasm for the traditional Korean rice wine at home and other countries. Some blamed the recent fall in makgeolli production on competition-driven market saturation.

Production of Rice Wine on a Decline [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2011/04/03/0301000000AKR20110403037700002.HTML?template=2089

Summary: According to the Korea Statics Office, production of rice wine amounted to 24,000 kilo liter in February 2011, down 6.8 percent from the same month last year.  Monthly rice production has been on a steady decline after setting a record high 34,000 kilo liter in June 2010.  Many market analysts agree that the market for rice wine has come to a saturation point.

Grass Planted on Rice Fields in Korea [English, CSY]

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=114451&code=Ne2&category=2

Full text: Unusual scene is spotted in Namhae County, South Gyeongsang Province where local farmers use road construction vehicles to lay sand on a rice field.  What's even more interesting is that they aren't planting rice seeds, but grass roots instead.  The county began this grass-planting business in 2009 so that they could help farmers in the area make more money.  They say the turf can be sold four to six months after it is sown at about 14-thousand won, or roughly 12 US dollars, per square meter.  Most of it is used for soccer fields or for golf and it is even sold to people that simply want to use it for their own private gardens.  The farmers say that it takes quite a lot of money to start up the business, but once it gets going you can really reap the rewards.  [Interview : Seo Tae-yeong, Representative  Agricultural cooperative] "Growing grass yields more than five times more money than planting rice."  A total of eight farms in Namhae are running this business and they say that this year alone they have made around 275-thousand US dollars in sales.

2. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

All livestock travel bans lifted for FMD-affected areas [English, CSY]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=020000&biid=2011040443858

Full text: The Korean government lifted Sunday its ban on the transport of livestock animals issued in cities and counties that had foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks last year.   The eased restrictions came 125 days after the epidemic’s outbreak was confirmed.   The Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Ministry said it lifted its last livestock travel ban for Hongseong County, South Chungcheong Province. Since the outbreak, the ban has been lifted on 93 provinces, cities and counties after clinical tests showed no sign of the disease two weeks after the last case was reported.

Livestock Restriction Lifted All Across Korea. FMD Under Control [English, CSY]

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=114472&code=Ne2&category=2

Full text: We begin on a positive note this Monday morning.   The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that has haunted farms nationwide seems to have come under control.   Korea's Agriculture ministry announced that with the restrictions on livestock movement lifted in South Chungcheong Province on Sunday, all provinces across the nation are now free from the ban.    The ministry said the highly contagious animal disease appears to have been contained in the country with the last case being reported on February 25th.  No livestock has been culled since mid-March as there were no new cases of the disease following nationwide vaccinations that began in December last year.  Since the first case of FMD was confirmed in late November, nearly 3.5-million pigs and cattle have been culled at a cost of over 2.7-billion US dollars.  The Korean government, however, plans to remain on alert, closely monitoring the situation.

3. MARKETING ISSUES

Kim’s Club Supermarket Stores Offered for Acquisition … All Leading Retail Companies Submitted Bids [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2011/04/04/0302000000AKR20110404097800003.HTML?template=2087

Summary: Kim’s Club, a supermarket business arm of E. Land Group has been offered for an acquisition.  According to E. Land, all leading retail companies, including Lotte, Shinsegae, and Tesco Home-Plus, have submitted bids.  The two leading players in the grocery supermarket business, Lotte Shopping and Samsung TESCO, are expected to be strong contenders of the bid, as acquisition of the 54 grocery supermarket stores of Kim’s Club will make one of them the largest player in the grocery supermarket segment in Korea.  Lotte Shopping currently operates a total of 258 grocery supermarkets, while TESCO Home-Plus has 207 stores.

4. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Lee upbeat about S. Korea's farming sector [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/04/03/59/0301000000AEN20110403004300315F.HTML

Summary: President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that South Korea's agricultural sector will be able to compete globally if farmers, the government and political circles make concerted efforts as they did in the recent revision of an outdated agricultural cooperative law.   "Many people often say that farming is a sunset industry, but that is not true," Lee said in his biweekly radio address. "With the advent of a bio-agriculture era driven by progress in agricultural bioengineering, farming is now emerging as a promising future growth engine."   He stressed that the country's farming industry needs to seek growth through global competition.  "The domestic agricultural industry now has to engage in global competition amid the increasing trend of market liberalization," he said. "If the government and farmers join forces, the domestic agricultural industry will have great potential to make its presence felt overseas."