RPT-S.Korea imports 330,000 T of GMO corn for food

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SEOUL, July 1 (Reuters) - South Korea imported 330,000 tonnes of genetically modified corn for food use for the first time in May and June, and sees around 160,000 tonnes of the less expensive corn arriving every month, a government source said on Tuesday.

The source at the Korea Food and Drug Administration also told Reuters starch makers in South Korea, the world's third-largest corn importer, are increasingly switching to GMO corn for price reasons and that around 60 percent of the country's imports for food use would be made up of GMO corn this year.

"There is one cargo carrying around 50,000 tonnes of GMO corns due to arrive early this month and GMO corn imports for food use (this year) are likely to total 1.2 million tonnes," the source said.

South Korea had been one of only two countries in Asia to stick with more expensive non-GMO corn for food use.

But it broke the restriction early this year as corn starch makers, squeezed by soaring prices of non-GMO corn, signed a deal to import the engineered corn for manufacturing starch and sweeteners, risking a backlash from consumer groups.

In February four South Korean starch makers -- Daesang Corp (001680.KS), Doosan Corn Products Korea, Samyang Genex (003940.KS) and Shindongbang CP--agreed to import GMO corn and indicated they many have to buy more due to soaring prices of non-GMO varieties.

The four companies supply nearly 90 percent of South Korea's corn starch and sugar.

Global corn prices more than doubled over the past 12 months and reached a record high of above $8 a bushel last month, as demand for the grain, used for food, feed and fuel, increased on flooding in the U.S. Midwest last month, raising fears of reduced supply from the world's largest corn exporter.

On Tuesday, July corn futures CN8 on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped 1.0 percent to $7.17-¼ a bushel after the USDA raised its forecast for 2008 U.S. corn plantings to 87.3 million acres from its March estimate of 86.0 million. (Reporting by Miyoung Kim; editing by Jonathan Hopfner)