Pork and Poultry Meat
Koreans consume more pork than any other meat, in part
because beef was in short supply and often quite expensive
relative to pork. Chicken meat consumption was slow to
grow in South Korea, partly because of a relative lack
of recipes using chicken in the South Korean diet. The
introduction of fast-food, fried chicken franchises, however,
brought about expansion in broiler consumption in the 1980s
and 1990s, and more growth is expected.
Since July 1, 1997, when imports of frozen pork and poultry
meat were liberalized, the only formal barrier restraining
trade for pork and poultry meat has been tariffs that were
progressively reduced until reaching 25 percent for pork
and 20 percent for poultry meat in 2004. Chilled pork and
poultry meat were already free from quotas and have lower
tariffs than those that face the frozen products (22.5
percent for chilled pork, 18 percent for poultry meat).
Imports of chilled pork began late in 1996, after negotiations
in 1995 ended a controversy over government-mandated short
shelf-life rules for meats. Those rules would have effectively
prevented imported chilled meat from being sent to South
Korea in seaborne containers. South Korea has exported
certain cuts of pork (notably loins) to Japan and other
markets in some years. The government has sometimes subsidized
the exports. Disease outbreaks have harmed pork and poultry
farms in recent years (see Issues
and Analysis).
Pork and poultry meat are produced intensively in South
Korea, primarily using imported feedstuffs. About 7,000
hog farms and about 3,000 chicken farms (broiler and layer)
dominate production,which is concentrated in the province
surrounding Seoul, and, secondarily, in the southeast and
central parts of the country. Pork production doubled in
the 1980s and grew by over 50 percent in the 1990s. Both
the number and weight of hogs slaughtered have increased
over time. The broiler flock size has grown over the last
decade, and the slaughter weight of broilers has increased,
so that chicken meat production has shown an upward trend.
As in the intensive livestock industries in other major
producing countries, South Korea's farms have been getting
larger and larger. For pork production, boom-and-bust cycles
led to concentration of production among lower cost producers.
Farms with more than 1,000 hogs dominate the swine sector,
with some farms having more than 10,000 hogs. The poultry
industries have not seen the same wild swings in production
and prices as the swine sector, but nevertheless have experienced
a steady growth in size of operation as the cost advantages
of large operations have aided their competitiveness. Most
chicken production is on farms with 40,000 or more birds.
Despite government restrictions on the maximum farm size
because of environmental concerns, the trend toward larger,
more efficient farms continues. Increased foreign competition,
intensified since 1997, quickens the pace of change in
farm size.
The South Korean market for meats continues to undergo
considerable change. South Korea's marketing of pork and
chicken meat was poorly developed until the 1990s. Pork,
like beef, was sold thawed or frozen. Poultry meat has
usually been sold fresh or chilled. Markets for specific
cuts and for quality grades were largely absent, with meat
sold in relatively undifferentiated form. This affected
imports, since the international meat trade is increasingly
concentrated in specific cuts and qualities. An undifferentiated
retail market makes it more difficult to introduce cuts
that usually sell at a higher price because consumers may
not attach added value to a chilled product or to a cut
designed to be easily used in a certain recipe. However,
the lack of retail differentiation also limits the ability
of domestic producers to add value through marketing specific
cuts or degrees of freshness. Thus, the domestic industry
shares with exporters an interest in intensifying and differentiating
the marketing of meats in South Korea. In addition, South
Korean consumers also have an interest in seeing more specific
cuts in preparing certain dishes because they are increasingly
pressed for time and interested in expanding the variety
of foods they eat. The shift to a market in specific cuts
will benefit imports of certain cuts, especially pork ribs
and bellies, which are sometimes in short supply and priced
above world market levels.
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