Korea's agro-food exports set record of $8 billion in 11 months this year

Korea's exports of agricultural and food products in the first 11 months of this year hit a record high.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Korea on Sunday said such shipments exceeded $8 billion, up 4% from the same period last year.

Exports of ramen saw growth of 14.5% to $696 million and those of coffee mixes rose 6.7% to $304.1 million.

Overseas shipments of Korean pears also rose 3.8% to about $60 million thanks to expanded shipping space for the item's largest market, the U.S., and promotion of the fruit in Southeast Asia.

Exports of processed rice products such as instant rice and tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) also grew 10.7% to $163.5 million.

Exports in the first 11 months of the year were expected to exceed $8 billion, and those for the year were seen to break the all-time high of $8.5 billion set last year.

The ministry will set this year's export goal at $9 billion and perform extensive marketing in 18 major export markets including the US, China and Japan.

Domestic exporters also received stronger logistics support, with Korean strawberries shipped daily by air to Southeast Asia in cooperation with Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.

The limit on export insurance support per company was also raised from 80 million won ($62,000) to 100 million won, and the requirement for short-term export insurance for exporters to Japan was exempted until June next year.

Write to Jung-Hwan Hwang at jung@hankyung.com