Chungnam Sees Strong Growth in Agricultural Food Exports... Export Value Surpasses $500 Million for the First Time

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The export value of agricultural, fishery, livestock, and forestry products (hereinafter referred to as agricultural food products) from the Chungnam region exceeded 500 million dollars for the first time in the province's history last year.

According to export statistics from the province and the Korea International Trade Association on the 22nd, the export value of Chungnam's agricultural food products last year was recorded at 528.907 million dollars.

This represents a 21.1% increase compared to 2019 (436.87 million dollars). Considering that the nationwide agricultural food product export value increased by 4.5% during the same period (8.66 billion dollars in 2019 → 9.05 billion dollars), Chungnam's growth rate in agricultural food product exports is five times higher than the national average.

The leading export items in Chungnam's agricultural food products are primarily ginseng varieties and ginseng beverages. In fact, ginseng exports increased by 4.6%, from 98.433 million dollars in 2019 to 102.958 million dollars last year, and ginseng beverages also showed a 42% growth rate during the same period (23.935 million dollars → 33.987 million dollars).

The province analyzes that the increase in exports of local ginseng varieties and ginseng beverages was due to the rise in demand for health functional foods related to immune enhancement amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

The increase in export value in the seafood sector was also remarkable. Seafood products, including seasoned laver and other processed seafood, exceeded 100 million dollars in exports last year, with export value rising 190.8% from 30.684 million dollars in 2019 to 89.22 million dollars.

Among these, laver exports increased by 16.8%, from 19.051 million dollars to 22.257 million dollars, and flower crab exports surged by 1564.4%, from 9,000 dollars to 143,000 dollars.

Not all agricultural food product categories maintained strong export performance. For example, strawberries, which are mostly exported by air, saw a sharp decline of 42.3%, from 2.948 million dollars to 1.702 million dollars, due to reduced passenger flights.

Last year, Chungnam's export values by country were ▲China 172.476 million dollars ▲United States 90.696 million dollars ▲Vietnam 60.656 million dollars ▲Taiwan 50.354 million dollars ▲Japan 38.779 million dollars ▲Hong Kong 30.223 million dollars, among others.

Meanwhile, the province plans to reorganize export logistics cost support focusing on fresh agricultural products this year, considering obstacles to export expansion such as rising air freight rates, imbalances in ship container supply, and deteriorating profitability due to the decline in the won-dollar exchange rate.

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