[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] Coffee imports, which have increased every year, are expected to decrease for the first time in five years.

According to the Korea Customs Service's trade statistics on the 21st, coffee imports amounted to 108,752 tons in the January-July period, down 3.9% from the same period last year. This includes beans, beans, capsules, instant mix, etc. Coffee imports also fell 9.5% to $ 646.73 million (about 868 billion won).

If this trend continues until the end of the year, annual coffee imports are expected to decline year-on-year for the first time in five years since 2018. Coffee imports increased year by year from 158,000 tons in 2018 to 205,000 tons last year. Imports more than doubled from $ 640 million in 2018 to $ 1.3 billion last year.

Some say that Koreans' "coffee love" may be slowing down. However, this year's drop in coffee imports is said to be largely due to a drop in coffee production worldwide. Analysts say imports may have decreased as prices have risen due to a drop in production in major exporters such as Brazil and Indonesia. There seems to be a base effect that coffee imports increased so much last year. Coffee imports rose 8.2% last year from the previous year, the largest increase since 2016 (11.1%).

 

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