The export of marine products has been steadily increasing since the first half of this year and is having a major impact on the domestic economy. According to data released by the Korea Agricultural & Rural Development Corp., the cumulative export value from January to July was 2,236.0 million dollars, an increase of 18.1 % over the same period last year.
This growth trend matches that of the first half (January‑June) where exports reached 1,925.9 million dollars, a rise of 21.9 % from the previous year’s same period. In fact, the actual exports in the first half surpassed 3.3 billion dollars – more than half of last year’s annual total. With the continued rise through July, the whole‑year marine product export is expected to hit an all‑time high.
When broken down by product, the trend is noticeable for large‑size species; especially for high‑grade fish, cumulative exports from January to July were 250.0 million dollars, a growth of 196.3 % over last year. The shrimp and crab also showed increases of 158.8 % and 185.8 %, respectively. For the traditional export item tuna, a rise of 23.6 % was recorded with exports of 359.4 million dollars. Other items such as mackerel, sardine and herring each grew by about 11.3 %, 11.0 % and 8.3 % respectively.
In the domestic market, the shrimp accounted for the largest share, exporting 710.0 million dollars, a slight decline of 1.5 % from last year’s same period. The decrease in catch volume contributed to the fall in the export of squid, which dropped by 11.3 %.
By country, Korea exported the most with 455.3 million dollars, followed by Japan and the ‑? …
(Note: This translation maintains the original paragraph breaks.)