Government Meets Dairy Companies... "Refrain from Excessive Price Increases"

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recently met with dairy companies and requested their cooperation to refrain from excessive price increases.

On the 17th, when dairy companies simultaneously raised milk prices, milk was displayed on the dairy shelves at a large supermarket in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the government and dairy companies on the 11th, the Ministry held a meeting with dairy companies on the 7th.

At the meeting, dairy companies raised concerns about difficulties faced by the industry. The Ministry is known to have requested restraint on excessive price hikes. The dairy companies are currently monitoring the raw milk price negotiation process.

The rate of price increases by dairy companies depends on the level of raw milk price hikes. The Dairy Promotion Committee, composed of dairy farmers and dairy industry representatives, has been discussing raw milk price increases since the 9th of last month. Given the recent rise in feed prices and other factors increasing production costs for dairy farmers, an increase in raw milk prices is inevitable. Production costs are the most important factor in determining raw milk prices; when production costs rise, raw milk prices follow suit.

However, the Ministry reformed the dairy system so that from this year, market conditions as well as production costs are reflected in raw milk price increases, thereby reducing the extent of the hikes. For this year, price increases are set within the range of 69 to 104 won per liter of raw milk. This is a limited increase compared to before the system reform (104 to 127 won per liter).

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