FACTBOX: A look at the South Korean beef market

(Reuters) - A South Korean official said on Monday the country would move slowly in allowing back U.S. beef imports in order to calm an angry public that has staged mass street protests for weeks against the product.

Following are some facts about the South Korean beef market:

THE MARKET

South Koreans consume an average of 7.5 kg (16.53 lb) of beef each a year, according to agriculture ministry data.

Consumption fell to 6.1 kg during the mad cow crisis in 2003 and 2004 but the Korea Research Institute is predicting it will reach 15-16 kgs by 2018.

The ministry says South Korea has some of the highest prices in the developed world for beef. A market survey shows that the price of 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of Korean beef steak sells in local supermarkets for about 6,350 won ($6.07). That is almost 60 percent higher than imported Australian beef.

Local beef accounts for about 40 percent of consumption in South Korea.

U.S. IMPORTS

Before South Korea banned imports of U.S. beef in late 2003 over an outbreak of mad cow disease there, it imported about 199,000 tonnes or $850 million worth of the product a year. The United States once accounted for two-thirds of beef imports.

After the ban, Australia took over as the No. 1 exporter and now controls almost three-quarters of imported beef market. It shipped 147,600 tonnes of beef worth about $840 million last year.

South Korea resumed U.S. beef imports last year but only boneless meat from cattle 30 months old or younger. But that ran into problems after U.S. shipments were found to contain products banned under the new rules, which led to a halt in imports.

OTHER COUNTRIES GAIN GROUND

A table below shows the major beef exporters to South Korea in the past three years, according to the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service.

The data is in thousand tonnes of beef that passed inspections each year. The numbers for 2007 are estimates.

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Australia 61.1 86.0 101.4 137.0 147.6