The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on the 8th that pork supply prices will be cut by up to about 30%. It means the prices at which supermarkets or companies that process pork into ham, dumplings, and other products buy pork from slaughterhouses will go down. If these intermediate prices fall, retail prices for pork and pork-containing products could also be lowered in succession when consumers make purchases.
Within this month, the supply price of pork hind leg will be cut by 4% to 5% (about 750 tons), and the supply prices of samgyeopsal and neck will be cut by 5.9% to 28.6% (about 288 tons). Once the volume runs out, prices will return to normal, but the industry expects the discount period to last about a month given the available volume.
According to the "February consumer price index" that the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) released earlier, pork prices rose 7.3% from a year earlier. That is more than triple the increase in the consumer price index (2%). The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "This supply price cut was made as the meat processing industry voluntarily decided to lower supply prices to ease the burden on consumers during the spring outing season, when demand increases."
To stabilize prices, the government has operated a task force of ministers for special management of essential consumer prices (TF) since on Feb.. The essential consumer prices TF is an organization created as the government emphasized price stabilization, and sugar and flour, which the TF designated for management, have also seen companies cut prices.
Minister Song Mi-ryung of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "We will continue to work to establish a fair and transparent distribution order for livestock products and to reduce distribution expenses."