N. Korea's grain imports from China surge in March (33-fold)

Yonhap News ^ | 2017/05/03

[TigerLikesRooster]

N. Korea's grain imports from China surge in March

SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's grain imports from China surged in March from a year earlier, a U.S.-based news agency said Wednesday, citing customs data released by China.

The North imported a total of 4,400 tons of grain from China in March, which represented about a 3,200 percent spike from the same month last year, according to a report by Voice of America (VOA).

The amount was also up from the North's February grain imports from its closest ally, which stood at around 1,275 tons.

Of the imports, wheat flour took up the largest share of 1,788 tons, followed by rice and corn with 956 tons and 882 tons, respectively.

During the January-March period, the North's cumulative grain imports from China came to 6,512 tons, a jump of 4.3 times from the same period a year earlier, the report showed.

The North's fertilizer imports from China also soared 67 percent on-year to 53,863 tons in March. The amount is a sevenfold increase from what was imported in the previous month.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[Obadiah]

And the reason for this is....?

Crop failures?

Bulking up in anticipation of war?

More feed for troops on high alert?

Kim Jung Un is still hungry?

[COBOL2Java]

"I'll take this one; you can throw the rest away"

[TigerLikesRooster]

Bulking up in anticipation of war?

Probably.

[Pollster1]

In perspective, that is enough calories to feed the 25 million people of North Korea for 1/3 of a day. This is not evidence of mass starvation/hunger/failure.

[Red Badger]

Preppers.........................

[Obadiah]

I always find these pictures fascinating. These pictures are typically a really tight shot with Jung Un purportedly showing plenty or great activity. But the backgrounds are almost always empty and devoid of anything except sterile props, thus revealing the stark reality and the dearth of substance.

[9YearLurker]

Bu..., bu..., but...

[COBOL2Java]

I always find these pictures fascinating. These pictures are typically a really tight shot with Jung Un purportedly showing plenty or great activity. But the backgrounds are almost always empty and devoid of anything except sterile props, thus revealing the stark reality and the dearth of substance.

There's even a web page dedicated to all of the things he looks at: kimjongunlookingatthings.com

[TigerLikesRooster]

Some translated version of original VOA article in Korean:

North Korea March Grain Imports Has Significantly Increased

2017.5.3

The amount of grain North Korea imported from China in March increased significantly compared to the same period last year. In addition, the total grain imports from China from January to March this year increased more than four times from the previous year. Kim Hyun-Jin reports.

North Korea imported 4,400 tons of grain from China in March.

South Korea's North Korean agriculture expert Gwang Tae-jin, the Director of North Korea and Northeast Asia's Research Division at GS & J Institute said that he analyzed the data from the Chinese Customs, (N. Korea imported) 3.5 times more than the 1,275 tons imported in February and 33 times more than in the same period last year .

In March, wheat flour, rice, corn and starch were imported, and wheat flour topped the list with 1,788t, followed by rice with 956t, corn with 882t and starch with 773t.

North Korea's imports of grain from China in January to March this year were also more than four times higher than in the same period last year.

According to the data, North Korea imported 6,512 tons of grain from China in the first quarter, up 4.3 times from the same period last year when 1,504 tons were imported.

Grain imports amounted to $ 2,166,000, more than three times higher than $ 705,000 from last year.

In the first quarter of this year, North Korea imported 2,653 tons of wheat from China, followed by starch, corn and rice.

In a telephone conversation with VOA, Gwang Tae-jin said on February 2 that grain imports this year have increased compared to the same period last year, but still insufficient to meet the shortage of 400,000 tons. Therefore, he speculated that large amount of grains could have been imported from China unofficially.

[Interpretation: Kwang Tae-jin, the Director of North Korea and Northeast Asia's Research Division at GS & J Institute] "It is almost impossible to stabilize food prices with this amount of imports, but surprisingly, grain prices have been stabilized in the market. I suspect that the market demand was met via (additional) unofficial import. "

On the other hand, it also showed that there was a significant increase in N. Korea's fertilizer imports from China this March.

According to the data, North Korea imported 53,863 tons of Chinese fertilizer last March. This is 7 times more than the 7,353 tons of imports and 67 percent more than the same period last year.

However, the total amount of fertilizer imported from China by North Korea from January to March this year was 64,274 tons, 57% less than the import of 148,854 tons in the same period last year.

Kwon said that fertilizer imports in the first quarter of this year are similar to those of the normal year, saying that a large amount of fertilizer is needed between April and June when corn and potatoes are planted or transferred.

[TigerLikesRooster]

They do experience spot shortages from time to time during which grain price skyrockets. However, they may also import it to stock up military reserve supply.

[rdl6989]

Crop failure is the first thing I thought of.