The announcement this week that two EU countries have been approved by South Korea to supply beef is bittersweet news for Irish farmers. It is good news in so far as it is another major global economy that has ended the BSE ban on imports from EU countries; the bad news is that Ireland isn’t one of the countries that has been cleared, as it is the Dutch and Danes that have got the nod.

Major players

Neither of these countries are major players in beef exports as their livestock industries are very much dairy-based. They do have a long trading relationship in dairy and pigmeat, so are serious global players.

It is a country that is very much on Ireland’s export target list, with Minister Creed saying after meeting vice-minister Lee Jae-Ouk of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) in Seoul in June this year that Ireland was at the fifth stage of an eight-stage process to get beef exports approved.

Is it worthwhile?

The short answer is yes, because beef imports are expected to reach 450,000t this year, which is double the level of imports from a decade ago.

As well as being a progressively growing market, like its neighbour Japan it is produces just two-thirds of the beef it imports, so it is always a buyer in international markets.

The USA supplies half of South Korea's beef imports with most of the rest supplied by Australia, while New Zealand and Canada are minor suppliers.

The EU and South Korea have a free trade agreement (FTA) in place since 2011 and this, along with sustained economic growth in the country, has seen EU exports of general goods and services increase 77%, eliminating a major trade deficit with the country.

Irish access

Irish access to this market will come at some point and when it does, it will join China and Japan as Asian markets that will drive international trade in beef over the coming decades.

The EU and the Americas are markets that have reached their peak and, if anything, are likely to decline.

African countries have huge potential both as producers and consumers, but are far behind Asian economies in their stage of development.

Asian countries, particularly China, Japan and Korea, are developing rapidly, with Indonesia and Vietnam following behind.

Demand for meat protein is forecast to grow 68% between 2010 and 2050 and these countries will be to the forefront of that increase in demand.

For Irish farmers, it isn’t a market that will impact on the price of beef next week or even next year.

However, a decade from now it is likely to be one of the Asian markets that is significant customers for Irish beef, as well as pigmeat and dairy.