Chicken leg prices set to soar

By Lee Hyo-sik

The government’s import ban on U.S. chicken is feared to raise poultry prices.

U.S. poultry accounts for half of Korea’s chicken imports, or over 10 percent of consumption here.

In particular, prices of chicken legs could soar if the ban continues because Korea imports tens of thousands of chicken legs each year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Sunday, Korea has banned the import of U.S.-bred chicken since Dec. 20, two days after a highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus was found in chickens on an Oregon farm.

Since then, no U.S. poultry has been brought into Korea unless they were killed before Dec. 20, or were heat-treated at over 70 degrees Celsius.

According to the ministry, a total of 7,594 tons of imported chicken were inspected in January. Of the 7,594 tons, 4,144 tons, or 54.5 percent, were imported from the U.S.

“Korea imported nearly the same amount of U.S. chickens in January as a month ago. They were either culled before the Dec. 20 import ban or heat-treated under high temperatures,” a ministry official said. “However, the amount of imported U.S. poultry will decline in the coming months due to the ongoing import restriction.”

Home-grown chickens account for 79 percent of Korea’s consumption, while the remaining 21 percent is met with imported ones. Of the 21 percent, more than half are from the U.S.

Korea bought 67,646 tons of U.S. chickens last year, 67,622 tons of which were chicken legs, nearly 58 percent of total imports.

An official at the Korea Poultry Association said the nation imported over 5,000 tons of chicken legs each month from the United States. If this comes to a halt, prices of chicken legs will soar, the official said, adding that prices have already begun heading upward.

Following the import restrictions on U.S. chickens, the Korea Rural Economic Institute projected that prices will increase to 2,200 won per kilogram in March, up from 1,800 won in January.

Korea has been dealing with its own avian influenza outbreak over the past few months, culling tens of thousands of infected chickens and ducks in dozens of poultry farms nationwide.

The latest outbreak was confirmed at a farm in Jeongup, North Jeolla Province, last Thursday.

The farm owner reported this to the quarantine authorities Tuesday after discovering about 80 dead ducks. Upon the report, quarantine officials culled 28,000 live ducks at the farm as a precaution.

Two days later, the officials confirmed the detection of the avian influenza virus in the dead poultry.