U.S. pork shippers target South Korean market

U.S. pork shippers target South Korean market

   U.S. pork shippers report brisk sales of chilled pork in South Korea.

   South Korea stopped importing American beef in December 2003 after the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a Washington state cow. The U.S. Meat Export Federation said the ban has created a beef shortage and increased demand for pork products in South Korea.

   The federation said large retailers in South Korea, such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Lotte Mart, reported that U.S. chilled pork belly and Boston butt are popular among South Korean consumers. To encourage this trend, the federation is sponsoring sample-tasting promotions at these stores so consumers could taste the similarities between domestic and U.S. pork.

   According to the federation, through March, the United States exported 19,787 metric tons of U.S. pork products to South Korea, a 227 percent increase from the same period last year. Value of this product over the same period reached $47.5 million, a 315 percent increase over the previous year.