Browse Data and Analysis

The lobster market in Korea was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2021, Korean lobster imports totaled 413.6 metric tons. The United States was the second largest supplier, holding a 7.7 percent market share by volume. Canada is the largest supplier.

An increasing number of Korean customers are making values-based consumption decisions. Korean customers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products.

The 2021 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world.

Korea has a strong food processing industry that manufactures a wide variety of food and beverage products. It also relies heavily on imports to fulfill its food and agricultural needs.

Korea’s overall demand for beef and pork in 2022 will remain steady and could improve in the second half of the year with a reopening of its restaurant sector. However, Covid-related restrictions continue to limit Korea’s Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional businesses where meat is heavily consumed.

FAS/Seoul projects Korea’s corn imports and consumption to increase in 2022/23 to support anticipated growth in animal inventories, following an expected decrease in corn imports in 2021/22 due to the war in Ukraine. Korean wheat consumption in 2022/23 is forecast to decline 15 percent due to reduced feed wheat supply.

This report outlines the specific requirements for food and agricultural product imports into the Republic of South Korea. Updates to the 2022 FAIRS Report are included in Sections V, VI, VII and Appendix II.

This report includes technical information and certificate requirements for food and agricultural product exports to the Republic of South Korea.

On December 10, 2021, Korea released its 2022 Market Access Quota (MAQ) updates, which cover a variety of agricultural commodities ranging from mung bean, red bean, soybeans to various feed ingredients. These MAQs are used to minimize local price fluctuations resulting from domestic supply shortages.

This report provides updates to the Korea Rice Production 2021 report issued by FAS/Seoul on November 22, 2021, based on new data released by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) in December 2021.

Korea has issued its annual list of adjustment tariffs and voluntary tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for certain agricultural products for calendar year 2022. Korea’s 2022 tariff adjustments were relatively unchanged from the previous year; however, expanded TRQ’s in a handful of agricultural commodities will increase opportunities for U.S. agricultural exports, particularly in feed grains and food ingredients.

This report includes technical information and certificate requirements for food and agricultural product exports to the Republic of South Korea. Notable updates include dairy export certification for Korea and the NAQS electronic import certification for processed organic products.