Duty-Free Import of 1.28 Million Tons of Edible Corn Until Year-End... Expected Price Stability for Snacks and Beer

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The government will import 1.28 million tons of food-grade corn tariff-free by the end of the year to proactively respond to the rise in international grain prices. As the upward pressure on the price of food-grade corn, used as raw material for confectionery, baking, noodles, beverages, and beer, eases, it is expected that the prices of related processed foods will also show a stable trend.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it had approved a revision to the quota tariff regulation at the Cabinet meeting to reduce the tariff rate applied to food-grade corn imports to 0% until the end of this year. This quota tariff measure was implemented as a follow-up action based on the discussion results of the 'Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting' held on the 7th to proactively respond to the rise in international grain prices.

A quota tariff is a temporarily applied lower tariff rate than the basic tariff rate for a certain quantity to stabilize domestic prices, and the revised regulation is scheduled to apply to imports declared after the date of publication in the official gazette.

According to the approved revision, 1.28 million tons of food-grade corn, which previously had a basic tariff rate of 3%, will be imported tariff-free until the end of this year. The tariff-free quantity was decided at a level that can cover the entire expected import volume until the end of the year, considering recent import prices. The import price of corn rose from $212 per ton last year to $235 in January, $261 in February, and $265 in March.

Currently, items subject to quota tariffs with a 0% tariff rate include 40,000 tons of hulless barley for feed, all oats for feed, 10 million tons of corn for feed, and 1.2 million tons of soybeans for oil extraction.

This measure is expected to stabilize prices of confectionery, beverages, ice cream, beer, and other products using food-grade corn as raw material. A Ministry of Economy and Finance official explained, "Food-grade corn is processed into starch and starch syrup and mainly used as food raw materials for confectionery, baking, noodles, beverages, ice cream, and beer," adding, "This measure will reduce the tariff burden on imported food-grade corn (from 3% to 0%) and contribute to price stability of related processed foods."