North Korea imported more than three times more grain from China in January of this year than in the same period of 2009.
Kwon Tae Jin, the Head of the Center for Global Cooperation & Research of the Korea Rural Economic Institute, released the details in an article on his blog last week. He reported, “The amount of grain which North Korea imported in January from China was 13,834 tons, a threefold increase over last year’s amount, 3,869 tons. Of course, the cost of the imports also increased, from approximately $1.27 million to $6.3 million.”
According to the article, which Kwon wrote based on statistics released by the Korean International Trade Association, the majority of the imported grain was in the form of rice (60.9%, 8,425 tons); next was corn (3.448 tons); then soy beans (1.553 tons); flour (304 tons); and other mixed grains (104 tons).
Kwon said, “Besides rice, the quantities of both corn and soy beans, which were not imported at all in January of last year, also suddenly increased. This is because domestic production of corn in 2009 was so bad that the authorities’ grew concerned about an impending shortage of food this year. Therefore, they increased imports of grain this year.”
In an interview with The Daily NK, Kwon also said, “The North Korean authorities moved to secure supplies of grain after both the currency redenomination and the crackdown on markets.”
He went on, “With the constant aggravation of food supply problems, foreign currency reserves were much reduced, but in January the authorities started purchasing grain anyway.”
Meanwhile, on a more positive note for the authorities, imports of fertilizer fell by 22.5% over the same period. This was because production of chemical fertilizer by the Heungnam Fertilizer Complex increased in 2009.
Since South Korea suspended fertilizer aid in 2008, Kim Jong Il has been encouraging the Heungnam Fertilizer Complex to increase production to meet domestic demand.
