I know I talk about this too much for some, but this is really beginning to bother me with its implications. Once again the paper complains about food prices:
Prices of everyday food products such as ham and cooking oil have increased by between 10 and 20 percent, mainly driven by the weak local currency against other foreign currencies.
We now have a new scapegoat, the exchange rate. Previous examples have been rising raw material costs, and simply world wide demand. Yes I know there are connections between those two. What bothers me, as always, is simply if the situation is so dire for Koreans, why not do something which can be done easily and have a huge impact, lower the damn tariff.
So let’s look at this new one, and once again, for a baseline, let’s look at the KORUS FTA tariff tables for some guidance on what current Korean tariff is.
Top food manufacturer CJ Cheiljedang raised prices of Spam by 15 percent in the middle of last month.
Let me start by saying that “Spam” is not a line item on the tariff schedule, the tariff table pithy, and I do not want to look in depth too much. However, here are some that might cover it:
Sausages: 18%
Homogenized Meat Preparations: 30%
Other processed food makers followed suit this month, with Daesang Corporation raising prices of ham products by 19 percent and Lotte Ham by 12 percent this month.
This is one is tough in a way. What is called “Ham” in Korea is not exactly what is technically called ham. Some Korean “Hams” could follow along the lines of the Spam above. Some indications in the raw meat category:
Hams, Shoulder, cuts thereof: 22.5-25%
Pork Belly: 22.5-25%
Prices of red pepper paste, or gochujang, sesame oil and cooking oil have increased as well. CJ Cheiljedang’s three-kilogram tub of gochujang is now 18,900 won ($14), a rise of 2,000 won.
Fruits of the genus capsicum (almost all chilies): 270% plus an import quota
Hot bean paste: 45%
Spice mixes with chillies: 45%
Sesame Oil: 630% plus import quota
The price of Haepyo Corn Oil, manufactured by Sajo Industries, soared to 7,500 won from 6,980 won, a 7.4 percent hike.
Corn Oil: 8%
Other agricultural crops such as sesame and corn also jumped because of the won’s low value.
Corn Flour: 162.9-169%
Cornstarch: 226%
Sesame Seeds: 630% plus import quota
Due to Korea’s high dependency on crop imports, the price of bananas increased by 10 percent.
An odd phrasing, but anyway…
Bananas: 40% (because we have to protect all the banana growers in Korea).
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
People shouldn’t be eating processed meat anyways. It’s loaded with nitrites.
“Odd phrasing, but anyway….”
What’s odd, is that dram_man would complain about bad phrasing…
“Let me start by saying that “Spam” is not a line item on the tariff schedule, the tariff table pithy, and I do not want to look in depth too much.”
Now, that is, some fine, fine, phrasing, not to mention fantastic usage of “pithy”.
Speaking of free trade, did anyone see the list prices for the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe? Very very competitive. If there are any influential newspaper columnists out there, why not pen one on how the influx of foreign cars into Korea has scared the shit out of the Korean producers?
mjk> OK Ricky here is my ‘splaing.
The bad phrasing really is that it negates the premise of the piece, namely that foreign exchange rates (not “dependency on crop imports”) caused the recent increase in prices.
One could argue the phrasing is an latient argument FOR these tariffs. The tariffs encourage domestic production, in turn reducing “dependency on foreign crops”, and then reduce prices. Which really makes no sense, but then what does with Korean tariffs.
Lastly on the phrasing, are Koreans really “dependent” on foreign bananas? Seems like a bit of an overstatement.
As for pithy, yes I missed the verb there. However how would you describe an inscrutable entry such as “1702292882 other”.
Oh and as for the Genesis, thanks for pointing out how foreign trade actually benefits Korean companies by making them more internationally competitive.
(I will forego your assertion that the Genesis shows Hyundai is competitive “enough”. Regardless of the quality, the entry seems to be trying to fight last decades battle.)
#4: Dude, take a deep breath, count to 10 or so, and then read the shit you write before you hit the POST COMMENT button. Yes, sometimes it IS that simple. Also, i think you got the wrong poster to hate. I’m mjw, not mjk. Oh, and nice work with the ebonics.
#5: Thank you for pointing out the point that I was making. I’m sure all the other readers who also got it were happy to see that you go it, too.
No thank you for imputing the second point, however. I never asserted that Genesis shows that Hyundai is competitive enough. A case could be made, but would be defeated I presume. Also, how precisely would you define “enough”?
More importantly, what do you precisely mean by “trying to fight last decades battle”?
[sic]
trying to fight last decades battle
That it’s a large engine, oversize, luxury car in an era of financial restraint?
#9 – As mjw wrote in post #3 about the Genesis Coupe, “last decades battles” probably does not refer to a large engine, oversize, luxury car as the Genesis Coupe is neither of those things; it is a small (2.0 liter) to medium-sized (3.8 liter) engine, medium-sized (182 inches long), sports car.
From the guy who lurks and replies to all things car-related.
“Let me start by saying that “Spam” is not a line item on the tariff schedule, the tariff table”
Well, Korea *is* a prolific world producer of spam:
http://www.spamhaus.org/statistics/countries.lasso
That hideous saturated fat and salty delight ‘SPAM’ shouldn’t appear on anybody’s table.
is it wrong to love spam?
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