New
Transform your trade strategies with Market Brief, Tridge’s AI-powered market insights.

Kimchi Imports Hit All-Time High… Processing Plants on the Verge of Collapse

Published Jan 21, 2025

Tridge summary

In South Korea, kimchi imports exceeded 300,000 tons last year, the highest since 2007, driven by a significant rise in cabbage prices due to a 4.3% drop in domestic production. This has led to a 44.9% increase in cabbage prices compared to 2023, with most imports coming from China. The resulting trade imbalance has raised concerns about the sustainability of local kimchi production, as many processing plants struggle with increased costs. Small and medium-sized companies are particularly affected, lacking storage facilities and forced to purchase cabbage at high market prices. Despite record exports, the domestic kimchi industry faces challenges due to its dependence on imports to satisfy demand.
Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Last year, kimchi imports surpassed 300,000 tons again since 2019, breaking the record. As the trade imbalance of kimchi worsens, concerns are being raised about the collapse of the production base. According to trade statistics from the Korea Customs Service, kimchi imports last year were tallied at 311,570 tons. This is the largest amount since 2007, when imports were first reported in the statistics. It is 5,520 tons more than 2019 (306,050 tons), when the annual 300,000-ton barrier was first broken. Last year's imports increased by 8.7% compared to 2023 (286,545 tons) and by 12.5% compared to the average imports over the past five years (277,055 tons). The government previously announced on the 12th that last year's kimchi exports were the largest ever. Kimchi exports in 2024 are expected to be 47,053 tons. This is 6.6 times more imports. Most of the imports are from China. The reason for the rapid increase in kimchi imports is the rise in the price of cabbage, the raw ...
Source: Nongmin
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes. To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.