N. Korea's crop imports from China up 16 pct in Aug.
2013/10/01 11:42
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's crop imports from China rose 16.5 percent in August from the previous month, data showed Tuesday, indicating stability in food supply for people in the impoverished nation.
According to the data compiled by Kwon Tae-jin, a researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, North Korea imported 26,804 tons of grains such as flour, rice, corn and bean in August from its neighboring country, compared with 22,988 tons a month earlier.
The North spent a total of US$15.4 million to buy the crops that month, the largest monthly spending for the year, the data showed.
August also marked the seventh consecutive month that the North's crop imports topped 20,000 tons.
"Since February, the North has imported more than 20,000 tons of crops per month from its strongest ally," Kwon said.
"Factoring in the forecast of good harvests for the autumn thanks to good weather conditions, the North is expected to enjoy a relatively stable supply of crops at least for the rest of the year," he added.
Meanwhile, North Korea's fertilizer imports from China totaled 183,639 tons in the January-August period, down 27.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data.
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