Oranges and bananas in South Korea are more expensive than last year even with tariff-free, mangoes are cheap

Fresh Orange

Published Mar 14, 2024

Tridge summary

Despite the South Korean government's efforts to stabilize prices of imported fruits through 'tariff-free' measures and tariff quotas, prices of oranges, bananas, and pineapples have increased compared to last year. This is due to increased production costs, poor crop conditions, and a rise in labor costs and raw material prices in foreign countries. Additionally, a higher exchange rate due to the decreased value of the won has also contributed to the price increase. Notably, the price of oranges, the most imported fruit after bananas, rose 8.9% compared to last year, despite a reduction in tariffs.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yun-gu = While the prices of apples, pears, and tangerines have soared to more than 1.5 times the level of a year ago, even the prices of imported fruits such as oranges, bananas, and pineapples have increased compared to last year despite the government's 'tariff-free' measure. The government applied tariff quotas to imported fruits to stabilize fruit prices, but fruit prices did not fall significantly, but rather rose. This is interpreted to be because the pre-import price itself has risen due to rising production costs or poor crop conditions. According to the agricultural product distribution information compiled by the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT) on the 14th, the price of oranges (American Navels), which are the most imported after bananas, was 17,723 won per 10 pieces as of mid-month, compared to 16,276 won in mid-March last year. It rose 8.9%. The price of American oranges fell from 18,477 won at the beginning of ...

Source: Yna