Milk prices to remain fixed with dairy industry agreement

Dairy farmers and dairy companies reached an agreement to freeze the price of milk at 1,084 won per liter and cut the price of milk for processed goods by 5 won per liter.

Flavored milk products are displayed at a supermarket in Seoul on Tuesday. The Korea Dairy Committee board decided to lower the price of milk used to make processed goods by 5 won to 882 won, according to Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The price change goes into effect from Thursday. [YONHAP]

Dairy farmers and businesses reached an agreement to freeze the price of raw milk to alleviate the public's burden amid ongoing inflation, while the price of milk for processed dairy goods will be reduced, Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Tuesday.

The agreement was reached after negotiations that began in June to address the rising production costs, according to the ministry. With the agreement, the price of milk for consumption will be fixed at 1,084 won ($0.78) per liter (0.26 gallons) starting from Thursday. The price of milk used to make processed goods, including cheese and powder, will be reduced by 5 won to 882 won per liter, the ministry added.

As major domestic milk producers, including Seoul Dairy Cooperative, Maeil Dairies and Namyang Dairy Products, pledged to freeze the retail prices of their plain milk, the ministry added that the move will also help limit price hikes for related goods that use milk as an ingredient.

Separate data compiled by Statistics Korea indicated that the production cost of milk increased by 4.6 won per liter from a year earlier.

In June, the prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products rose by 6.5 percent on year, despite overall consumer price increases slowing to an 11-month low to only 2.4 percent.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]