Jeonbuk Province Achieves $86.21 Million in Agricultural and Marine Food Exports in Q1 This Year

Jeonbuk Provincial Government Office. Photo by Jeollabuk-do Provincial Government Office

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Tae-in] Jeonbuk Province's export value of agricultural and marine food products in the first quarter of this year recorded $86.21 million, an increase of 9.1% compared to last year.

On the 28th, Jeonbuk Province announced that despite various domestic and international variables such as COVID-19, the export value of agricultural and marine food products in the first quarter ended with a significant upward trend.

In particular, the export growth rate of 9.1% greatly exceeded the national agricultural and marine food export growth rate of 3.0%, ranking second among the nine provinces nationwide, marking a significant achievement amid the COVID-19 crisis.

By category, processed agricultural food products (6.4% increase) led the export growth, and fresh agricultural products (0.5% increase) also contributed to the export increase, while marine products such as Gim, which had been key export items, saw a sharp decline of 18.9% due to reduced exports to China caused by COVID-19.

Among fresh agricultural products, paprika ($1.4 million, 27.2% decrease) showed a declining trend, whereas pears ($1.55 million, 28.2% increase), roses ($360,000, 3.9% increase), and tomatoes ($210,000, 469% increase) led the growth.

In livestock products, chicken was the main item, with exports to Vietnam decreasing, resulting in a total export performance of $5.52 million (2.5% decrease). Forest products recorded $780,000 (7.4% decrease) in exports due to a decline in wood exports.

By country, China ($17.66 million, 18.3% decrease), which had been sluggish at the beginning of the year, slowed its decline and reclaimed the top spot as Jeonbuk's leading agricultural food export destination. Japan ($13.43 million, 58.6% increase), where exports of pet food, seasoned Gim, and kimchi continued to expand this year, ranked second.

Despite the decrease in dried Gim exports, Thailand ($13.42 million, 21.4% increase) ranked third due to increased exports of pet food (feed) and noodles, while the United States ($10.19 million, 17.2% increase) maintained steady growth, ranking fourth, supported by overall export growth in kimchi, noodles, chicken, and citron tea.

The export share of Jeonbuk's agricultural food products by country was China (20.5%), Japan (15.6%), Thailand (15.5%), the United States (12.8%), Vietnam (8.5%), and the Netherlands (18.5% increase) in that order.

To respond to changes in export conditions caused by COVID-19 in China and support self-help measures for agricultural food export companies facing difficulties, the province urgently allocated 250 million won as a supplementary budget for the 'COVID-19 Damage Agricultural Food Export Company Voucher Project' to support the export industry.

As the decline in international trade due to the recent pandemic phase has become more pronounced, the province plans to actively facilitate online export consultations to promote B2B transactions and simultaneously conduct promotional events linked with overseas distributors on online shopping malls, as the expansion of non-face-to-face export marketing is urgently required.

Since major export marketing methods such as participation in overseas exhibitions, dispatch of market development teams, promotional events linked with local retail stores, and buyer invitation consultations have been canceled or postponed, the plan is to shift to and promote non-face-to-face strategies through online channels.

Kang Hae-won, Director of the Agricultural Food Industry Division of Jeonbuk Province, said, "Despite difficult domestic and international export conditions such as COVID-19, Jeonbuk's agricultural and marine food exports increased in the first quarter of this year," adding, "We will do our utmost to overcome COVID-19 and increase exports to realize agriculture that receives fair value even in the still challenging future export environment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.