Online Wholesale Market Expanded to Seafood... 126.2 Billion KRW Traded This Year

First Trade of Cheonil Salt on the 1st

This year, the cumulative transaction amount in the online wholesale market has exceeded 120 billion KRW. On the 1st, the first seafood transaction was also successfully completed.

On the 3rd, Han Hoon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, visited the Agricultural and Marine Products Online Wholesale Market control room located in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, to inspect the market operation status and listen to the opinions of on-site officials.

Han Hoon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, visited the control room of the Agricultural and Marine Products Online Wholesale Market located in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, on the 3rd to inspect the market operation status.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been operating a nationwide online wholesale market since November 30 last year, allowing any sellers and buyers who meet certain requirements to participate, in order to fundamentally resolve the structural competition limitations and logistics inefficiencies of the existing wholesale market, where transactions were only possible among a few distribution entities within specific designated areas. In May of this year, in collaboration with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the market was expanded and reorganized into an agricultural and marine products online wholesale market that also enables seafood transactions.

The transaction performance of the online wholesale market is showing an increasing trend. Although it has only been about seven months since operations began, this year's performance has reached 126.2 billion KRW (52,106 tons) as of the 30th of last month. The average daily transaction amount also increased from 209 million KRW in January to 1.438 billion KRW in June.

So far, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has continuously improved the system to revitalize the online wholesale market by relaxing seller registration criteria, abolishing restrictions on tradable categories such as fresh produce, livestock, and grains, and allowing sellers and buyers to conduct transactions simultaneously.

On the 1st, the first seafood transaction was made. A total of 13.5 tons worth 21.6 million KRW was traded between the Nonghyup in Sinan, Jeonnam, which produces solar salt, and an online agricultural and marine products sales company. The Ministry plans to continue expanding seafood transactions in cooperation with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Vice Minister Han said, "The online wholesale market is expected to contribute to increasing farmers' and fishers' incomes and stabilizing agricultural and marine product prices by reducing costs not only in agricultural products but also in seafood distribution," and requested the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the market operator, to continuously promote and educate so that producers and distributors can actively participate in the online wholesale market.