'Online Wholesale Market for Agricultural and Marine Products' Surpasses 100 Billion Won in Transactions This Year

Transaction Amount 26 Times Higher Than Last Year
100 Billion KRW Milestone Reached in June Last Year
Ministry of Agriculture Targets 1 Trillion KRW in Transactions This Year

This year, the transaction amount of the online wholesale market for agricultural and marine products has surpassed 100 billion KRW. The transaction growth rate is faster than last year, and the government expects to achieve the transaction target of 1 trillion KRW this year.

On the 4th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that the transaction amount of the online wholesale market for agricultural and marine products reached 103.3 billion KRW as of the 23rd of last month.

Online Wholesale Market Control Room for Agricultural and Marine Products. (Reference Photo)

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "This year's transaction amount is 26 times higher compared to the same period last year (3.9 billion KRW). Considering that the 100 billion KRW milestone was reached on June 17 last year, the growth rate of transactions this year is very rapid."

The online wholesale market for agricultural and marine products officially launched on November 30, 2023. The transaction amount in 2024 reached 673.7 billion KRW, exceeding the target of 500 billion KRW. The Ministry explained that through the online wholesale market, farmers' income increased by 3.5%, and distribution cost rates decreased by 7.4 percentage points, among other achievements.

To promote the growth of the online wholesale market, the Ministry lowered the annual transaction requirement for membership from 5 billion KRW to 2 billion KRW last year and significantly expanded users by easing regulations such as expanding transaction items. In particular, in January this year, trading of new items such as burdock, lotus root, yellow croaker, and dried anchovies began. During the Lunar New Year holiday period, support measures such as 50% transportation cost subsidies and 10% discount support for specialized products like apples, tangerines, and pears were also identified by the Ministry as factors influencing the increase in transaction amounts. Accordingly, the transaction amount increased by an average of 20.6% compared to December of the previous year, and the daily average transaction amount more than doubled from 1.8 billion KRW last year to 3.8 billion KRW.

The Ministry plans to focus on achieving a transaction amount of 1 trillion KRW this year by ▲ continuously expanding transaction items such as processed foods and seafood ▲ promoting participation of large-scale production organizations ▲ providing tailored support by buyer type such as large retailers and online retailers ▲ facilitating transaction matching through analysis of seller and buyer information and platform advancement.

Park Soon-yeon, Director of Distribution and Consumption Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "Revitalizing the online wholesale market is an essential task for innovating the distribution structure. We will do our best to stabilize the prices of daily necessities for the public by increasing farmers' income prices and reducing distribution costs through the online wholesale market."

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