Beef supply to reach 1.3 times normal levels; pork 1.4 times; eggs 2.4 times

610 million won allocated for chicken price cuts, with delivery prices down over 1,000 won per bird

Agriculture minister visits North Chungcheong Province livestock market to inspect holiday supply

Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryeong inspects prices and discount support for agricultural and livestock products at Lotte Mart's Anseong branch in Gyeonggi Province on Saturday. [Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]
Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryeong inspects prices and discount support for agricultural and livestock products at Lotte Mart's Anseong branch in Gyeonggi Province on Saturday. [Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]

Ahead of the chuseok holiday, the government plans to increase supplies of beef, pork and eggs by up to 2.4 times normal levels while rolling out discounts on Korean beef, pork and chicken. Korean beef will be discounted by up to 50 percent, pork by around 20 percent, and chicken will see both lower wholesale delivery prices and retail discounts of more than 20 percent.

Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryeong visited the Nonghyup livestock auction market in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, on Monday to inspect supply and demand for cattle, pigs and other livestock during the chuseok peak season, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The ministry said it will expand beef supply to 1.3 times normal levels and pork to 1.4 times to meet the surge in holiday demand. Egg supply, including imports, will be raised to 2.4 times the usual volume through poultry cooperatives and other channels.

Discount events will be held using government subsidies and producer group self-help funds. Korean beef will be discounted by up to 50 percent and pork by around 20 percent to ease the burden on consumers' holiday shopping budgets.

For chicken, the ministry is pursuing both lower wholesale delivery prices and consumer discount events. It will inject about 400 million won ($299,000) to reduce the delivery price of size-8-to-11 whole chickens supplied to large and mid-sized supermarkets, supporting a wholesale price cut of more than 1,000 won per bird. The delivery price reduction support, which began in July, will continue through the end of this month.

An additional 210 million won from the chicken industry's self-help fund will be used to run discount events at Hanaro Mart outlets operated by agricultural and livestock cooperatives. Size-10 whole chickens will be discounted by more than 20 percent from Friday through Sept. 24, the first day of chuseok. The campaign will be linked to Nonghyup's own half-price holiday meal set discount event.

Chicken prices have recently been running below last year's levels. The weekly average retail price of chicken for the week of Sept. 7 was 5,678 won per kilogram, down 5.0 percent from the same period a year earlier.

"We will do everything we can to ensure a stable supply of livestock products so that consumers can enjoy a meaningful and joyful chuseok," Song said. She also called on workers at slaughterhouses to maintain strict safety standards as processing volumes increase during the holiday period.

Lee Jae-sik, the ministry's livestock policy director, said chicken supply and demand is currently being managed stably ahead of chuseok. "We will closely monitor chicken supply and price trends through the end of September and make every effort to channel government support along with resources from Nonghyup and the chicken self-help fund, so that the public can actually feel the price reductions," he said.


adastra@heraldcorp.com