Browse Data and Analysis

On November 14, 2023, Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) released its final estimate of 2023 rice production at 3.7 million metric tons (MMT), up an additional 0.5 percent from the initial rice production estimates released in early October and down 1.6 percent overall from the prior year.

In 2023, the Korean government implemented three rounds of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for various imported agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, including new TRQs to stabilize food prices.

As the 5th largest country export market for the United States, Korea provides a promising market for U.S. agricultural products. In 2022, Korea imported about $50 billion agricultural and food products from all over the world and the U.S. supplied a fifth of it, ranking number one. Other key suppliers were China, Australia, Brazil, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Already reeling from high fruit prices, Korean consumers will face another year of expensive, lower-quality apples. Korea’s apple production for marketing year (MY) 2023/24 fell 25 percent year-on-year after orchards suffered a series of adverse weather events in 2023.

Indonesian cotton imports in 2023/24 are forecast to marginally increase by 5.9 percent to 1.8 million bales compared to 1.7 million bales in 2022/23 assuming spinners will use more inventory on hand before making new purchases.

Ample opportunities exist for U.S. agricultural exports to South Korea. Highlighted in the chart above, U.S. agricultural product exports were a record $9.5 billion in 2022, up 2 percent from 2021. South Korea is the sixth largest export market for the United States, thanks in part to a successful free trade agreement (KORUS) between the two countries and a robust demand for high-quality U.S. food products.

Although Indonesian dairy production is still reeling from the 2022 Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak, imports of dairy ingredients are expected to decline in 2023.

Korea has not finalized the May 2021 revisions of its Living Modified Organism (LMO) Act, which defines Korea’s regulatory policies for products developed through innovative technologies including genome editing.

Economic slowdowns in Indonesia’s export destination countries negatively affected its imports and consumption of wheat. Wheat imports for 2022/23 are revised down to 9.446 million metric tons (MMT) from the previous estimate of 9.526 MMT, reflecting...

Indonesia palm oil production for 2023/24 is revised down slightly to 45.8 million metric tons (MMT) due to lower yields from El Nino-induced dryness. Soybean consumption for 2022/23 is revised down on slower demand from the food sector. Reduced use...

On September 26, 2023, U.S. Ambassador Sung Y. Kim participated in the opening of one of the largest tempeh exporting factories in the world located in Bogor, Indonesia. This new factory, belonging to Tempe Azaki, will increase the company’s current...

President Jokowi stated his support for the utilization of genetically engineered (GE) crops (i.e., soybeans) in his September 2022 speech. To date, ten GE events have been allowed for cultivation in Indonesia (i.e., one GE sugarcane, one GE potato...