The Korea Customs Service said exports of seaweed and processed rice this year from January to October broke a record high. Shown is a man in Qatar looking at Korean seaweed products at a hypermarket. (CJ CheilJedang)

By Lee Dasom

Exports of gim (seaweed) and processed rice have hit record highs this year, with overseas shipments of each product growing over 20%.

The Korea Customs Service on Nov. 29 said seaweed exports from January to October rose 20.4% from the same period last year to USD 670 million and those of processed rice rose 29.9% to USD 79 million.

Through Nov. 20, seaweed exports this year broke USD 700 million for the first time at USD 711 million. 

The agency said, "At this rate, the figure is expected to exceed USD 800 million by year's end."

Processed rice exports this year broke last year's record annual high of USD 76 million in just 10 months.

By item, seasoned seaweed, a snack as well as a popular side dish, led the pack with USD 411 million. Dried seaweed, commonly used in gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) and seaweed snacks, contributed USD 259 million and instant rice USD 66 million.

The number of export markets for seaweed and processed rice also reached an all-time high. Seaweed was shipped to 120 countries including the U.S., Japan and China and processed rice to 87 like the U.S., Australia and China.

By country, the U.S. was the biggest importer of gim with USD 142 million, followed by Japan with USD 123 million and China USD 88 million. The American market was also No. 1 for processed rice exports with USD 63 million, followed by Australia with USD 3 million and China USD 2 million.

Seaweed gained four new export markets this year including Croatia and Tanzania and processed rice seven like Croatia, Latvia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The consumption of Korean content fueled by increased use of online video services around the world due to COVID-19 brought about the Hallyu (Korean Wave) craze, including that for K-food," the agency said. "This is apparently the result of our companies' efforts to launch products tailored for each market's conditions."

dlektha0319@korea.kr