By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
As U.S. beef sales have been in full swing by major local retailers, the market's overall price of beef imports has dipped 7.6 percent compared to the same time last year, said the National Statistical Office (NSO), noting that it is the biggest fall in 10 years.
With the increasingly abundant supply of imports from the U.S. and Australia, homegrown beef and pork prices have also sunk by 3.8 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively compared to a year earlier.
The NSO has been surveying meat prices three times a month throughout large-size retailers and butcher's shops in 38 cities nationwide.
``As more grocers are beginning to selling U.S. beef, Australian and New Zealand beef are seeing a drop in sales,'' said an NSO official.
Lotte Mart, the first mega supermarket chain to resume U.S. beef sales, said from July 13 to 25, it had sold out of 120 tons of imported frozen and chilled U.S. beef, while only 70 tons of Australian cuts, which had taken the lead during the absence of American meat, were sold.
The NSO says the price decline is expected to continue for some time, as more retailers resume selling U.S. beef.