Exports of agro-fisheries products fall 3.8% in H1

South Korea's exports of farm and fisheries products fell 3.8 percent on-year in the first half of the year, data showed Monday.

Outbound shipments of agricultural and fisheries goods came to $5.95 billion in the January-June period, down from $6.19 billion a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (aT).

Last year's tally marked an all-time high for the first half of any year, and it was the first time that the figure surpassed the $6 billion mark.

This year's fall was attributable to the marked decline in exports of fisheries items, which dropped 10.3 percent on-year to $1.52 billion in the January-June period.

Of major items, shipments of pollack sank 80 percent and those of tuna went down more than 20 percent, while sales of dried laver, called "gim" in Korean, jumped 24.9 percent on-year.

Exports of processed food inched down 1.1 percent on-year to $3.71 billion as the decline in sales of dairy products offset the rise in demand for beverages and noodles.

Exports of dairy items retreated 13.2 percent on-year, while those of noodles advanced 13.2 percent on the growing demand for ready-to-eat products, and sales of beverages rose 6.7 percent on-year.

Outbound shipments of fresh foods also went down 3 percent on-year to $720 million, the aT data showed.

By nation, exports to the United States fell 8.2 percent to $850 million, and those to the European Union and Britain retreated 16.4 percent to $360 million in the first half.

Sales to Japan and China also shed 3.2 percent and 2 percent, respectively, the data showed. (Yonhap)