U.S. beef leads exports to Korea

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced Nov. 19 that U.S. beef imports during the January to October period this year amounted to $989 million, taking up 50.7 percent of the nation’s imported beef market. American beef took up more than 50 percent of the market for imports from 1993 to 2003 when its share in the local market hit an all-time high of 75.9 percent. In 2004, the share plummeted to 17.5 percent as the country banned the imports of U.S. beef in 2003 after a single dairy cow in Washington state tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The country eased the ban in 2008 allowing in meat from cattle aged less than 30 months after holding several rounds of talks with the U.S from 2006-2008. Meanwhile, the share of Australian beef fell to 43.6 percent during the same period, after reaching its peak of 78.8 percent in 2006.