WASHINGTON, D.C. — Egg product and soy shipments from the U.S. in January increased to South Korea, the fifth-largest market by value in 2016 for U.S. farm and food exports, according to USDA.

 

The total value of eggs and egg products sent to Korea in January, $2 million, approached the value total for all of 2016. That included 100 tons of egg products, mostly dried and frozen yolks.

 

The country opened to U.S. shell egg imports for the first time ever after highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) resulted in depopulations of much of South Korea’s laying flock. But the confirmation of HPAI in Tennessee resulted in South Korea closing to U.S. shell eggs this month.

 

South Korea trade protocol bans any shell egg imports from countries where HPAI is present.

 

Heat-treated egg product shipments can continue from the U.S. to South Korea, according to Toby Moore, U.S. Poultry & Egg Export Council. “It’s helping our exporters, and we also hope it’s helping the food industry in Korea by enabling them to continue to utilize egg products in their product formulations without having to resort to non-egg substitutes,” he said.

 

 

South Korea also increased the value of whole soybean imports from the U.S. in January. Soybean shipments in January were 179 million metric tons, valued at $77 million, three times the value of a year previous.

 

Swine is the largest soy feed market in Korea, followed by beef cattle, poultry and dairy cattle, according to the U.S. Soybean Export Commission.

 

Walter Godwin, a United Soybean Board director who grows soybeans at Pelham, Ga., was part of a delegation traveling to Seoul last November for the annual U.S. Soy Buyers Outlook Conference, hosted by USSEC.

 

“We met with several of the top buyers from South Korea,” he said. Buyers were interested in both the supply and quality of the 2016 U.S. crop and where the soybeans were grown. “They wanted to know a lot about our farms personally,” Godwin said.

 

South Korean soybean crushers told the U.S. soy delegation that crush margins “were way down and they really wanted a good crop. A lot of them were saying that they kind of based their buy decisions on what they heard from us that day,” Godwin said.

 

“They said they feel better listening to farmers talk about their beans on their farm and getting an idea about the crop than some of the other data they’re seeing,” he said.

 

Soybeans benefited from the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which came into force in March 2012 and opened the door for many U.S. agricultural products to be exported to Korea duty-free. The FTA also benefited U.S. soybean oil exports. South Korea is one of the leading export markets for soybean oil from the U.S., and soybean oil exports to Korea increased from $37.4 million in 2015 to $66.5 million in 2016.

 

January 2017 exports of soybean oil were already $19.8 million, far outpacing last January’s values.

 

Some Korean duties on refined soy oil phased out in 2016. A 5 percent duty on raw soybean oil will reach zero in 2021 under the FTA, according to USSEC. Korea was the fifth-largest market, by value, for U.S. food and agriculture exports in 2016.

 

Consumer products made value gains while the value declined for basic and intermediate products – like dairy, eggs, commodity grains and oilseeds. Beef and corn exports to South Korea grew in 2016, with beef imports valued over $1 billion. Corn exports tallied an $865 million value, an increase of one-third. Fruit exports, mainly oranges and cherries, remained strong in 2016. Export values to Korea were down in 2016 for U.S. pork, tree nuts, dairy products, hides and skins.

 

Exporters continue working to address some phytosanitary trade barriers, which can still remain after an FTA is negotiated. U.S. fruit exporters are still working to some pesticide residue and phytosanitary trade barriers for fresh cherries shipped to Korea, according to the Northwest Horticultural Council. Korea also does not allow fresh pear or apple imports based on phytosanitary restrictions; the Council is working to gain U.S. access to the Korean fresh apple and pear market.

 

 

Korea banned U.S. shell egg and poultry imports after a strain of HPAI was detected at a Tyson breeding facility in Lincoln County, Tenn., on March 5. Low pathogenic avian influenza was detected in Giles County, Tenn., on March 9. Tennessee Department of Agriculture and USDA announced a second case of HPAI detected in Lincoln County, within the quarantine zone, on March 16.

 

Low pathogenic avian influenza was also confirmed in northern Alabama, in guinea fowl being sold at a flea market. Suspected LPAI cases were also detected at a commercial Aviagen poultry facility, where all birds were depopulated by the company’s decisions, as well as in a backyard flock, whose owner also depopulated out of caution.

 

Those two cases are also presumed to be low pathogenic strains, as birds showed no signs of illnesses, according to a March 18 update from the Alabama Extension Service.

 

Testing results indicate the HPAI in Tennessee is the H7N9 strain, which is different than the Asian strain. The virus is spread by North American wild birds. Low pathogenic bird flu strains can potentially mutate into highly pathogenic strains.

 

Alabama, the second-largest state for broiler production, has stepped up already aggressive poultry monitoring.

 

“We’re testing not only the chickens, but the guineas and the ducks and the pheasants and other backyard birds as well. All those need to be watched closely for all signs of illness,” said John McMillan, Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture. The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries issued a poultry stop movement order on March 14. On March 15, ADAI prohibited all poultry exhibitions and assembling of poultry to be sold in Alabama.

 

“For many months now we have really been pushing biosecurity,” said Mc-Millan, at a March 15 news conference.

 

“We’ve done a lot of education and a lot of planning to be ready for this.”