S. Korea's farm exports surge to record high in Q1

SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's farm and food exports surged to a record high in the first quarter due to the steady pace of the economic recovery and aggressive marketing efforts, a state-run trade corporation said Thursday.

According to a report by the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp., outbound shipments of farm and food products jumped 20 percent on-year to US$1.2 billion, the highest tallied for a three-month period.

The previous high was reported in the first quarter of 2009, when the total reached just over $1 billion.

Exports to China, the second-largest consumer market for South Korean farm products, shot up 54.6 percent on-year to $165 million, while those to Russia and the United States gained 44.5 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively.

Shipments to Japan -- the largest overseas market for local products -- increased 13.7 percent to $388.5 million until March, making up roughly a third of all exports.

"Improvements in the global economy have spurred demand, while marketing efforts using the overseas outlets of large discount outlets such as E-Mart and LotteMart helped sales, particularly in China," said Lee Weon-ki, head of the corporation's export planning team.

He said that in the past 20 years, farm exports grew by an average of 2.3 percent on an annual basis before soaring 19.6 percent in 2008, when South Korea began to seek outlets for its products abroad.

Exports of traditional alcoholic beverages, including "makgeolli," rose 80.1 percent to $4.6 million, with tuna and flower imports jumping 58.2 percent and 46.8 percent each. Makgeolli is a traditional rice wine beverage that has gained popularity especially in Japan.

The latest report also said that cigarette sales, which hit $100 million in the cited period, was the top overseas seller, with tuna and instant coffee mix comprising the top three.

Exports of kimchi, a spicy pickle eaten with almost every meal in Korea, reached $23.7 million in the first quarter, with exports of herbal ginseng totaling $26.3 million.

South Korea aims to increase outbound shipments to $6.4 billion this year, compared with $4.8 billion last year. Seoul wants to increase exports to top $10 billion by 2012.