Source:  Richard Smith, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/16/11

South Korea was the largest importer of U.S. beef in March for the second straight month, Yonhap News Agency has reported.

The country achieved that status as the supply of local beef plunged after foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) ravaged it during the winter, a government report showed Sunday.

South Korea imported 28,875 tons of U.S. beef in March, a more than three-fold increase from the same period the previous year, and a 53 percent jump from the previous month, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) reported. MIFAFF cited the latest data released by the USDA.

South Korea's imports accounted for 26 percent of U.S. beef shipped overseas that month, outstripping Japan, Canada and Mexico, the countries that have previously been top destinations for U.S. meat. Mexico purchased 19,995 tons of U.S. beef in March; Japan imported 15,676 tons and Canada 13,600 tons, the data showed.

South Korea was also the biggest overseas market for the U.S. beef farmers and ranchers in February. The country imported 18,889 tons of U.S. beef, accounting for 21 percent of overseas U.S. beef sales that month. The recent hike in U.S. beef consumption in South Korea comes in a sharp contrast to the high-profile grassroots campaigns against imports of the meat three years ago.

Throngs of South Korean consumers took to the streets for candlelight protests for months in 2008, protesting the resumption of U.S. beef imports over BSE concerns.

The data showed that South Korea's increased consumption of U.S. beef coincided with the outbreak of FMD that began to spread nationwide late last November 29 and forced the country to cull over 3.47 million head of pigs and cows.

According to the U.S. government data, U.S. beef exports to South Korea began to climb marginally in December to 12,292 tons from 12,053 tons in the previous month. But exports of U.S. beef to South Korea surged 51 percent on-month in February and then 31 percent in March, as the widespread culling of livestock began to cause public health jitters.

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