Pork prices fall amid swine flu scare

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- Pork prices in South Korea fell off this week amid
growing concerns about the outbreak of swine flu across the world, government and
industry sources said Tuesday.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said prices for a 110
kilogram pig fell to 352,000 won (US$260) on Monday, down 19,000 won compared to
Saturday when media coverage of the fatal virus spreading through North America
was still limited.
Swine flu is suspected of having killed 149 people in Mexico with cases of human
infections being reported in the United States, Canada, parts of Europe and New
Zealand.
The Korea Swine Association confirmed that the outbreak had affected pork prices,
noting that a kilogram of bone-in meat was sold at 4,663 won after the epidemic
began to grab public attention, down 260 won from late last week.
"Prices have been falling steadily since the middle of the month, but the recent
drop can be attributed to wholesalers in the meat industry adjusting purchases in
anticipation of a possible drop in demand," an official said.
Reflecting this, the number of pigs traded on the market on Monday stood at 5,449
animals from 5,774 bought and sold on April 20.
"Pork prices have been affected around the world and in the country, although at
present domestic sales have not fallen off," the source said.
He said based on reports from three major stores run by the National Agricultural
Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup), sales remained steady at between 105-110
million won over the weekend, with the numbers not seriously affected as of late
Monday compared to the week before. Local retailers also said that sales remained
relatively unchanged over the weekend.
"There is a need to see if the scare actually affects both prices and demand,
especially since Seoul confirmed earlier in the day that it temporarily
quarantined one woman for showing symptoms of the flu," he said. The 51-year-old
had recently returned from a trip to Mexico.
Experts say swine flu is only transmitted through the air or by direct contact
with a sick animal or an infected person and that it cannot be contracted through
consumption of meat, which they say is unable to act as a carrier for the H1N1
virus responsible for the deaths reported in Mexico.
Because of these characteristics, meat industry insiders say that while prices
have fallen at present, they may recover if strengthened quarantine measures
being taken around the world and South Korea limit new cases of human infections
in the next few weeks.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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