South Korea to build massive cabbage storage facilities

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South Korea to build massive cabbage storage facilities

South Korea's kimchi makers are in serious pain due to a shortage of cabbages due to a climate change, which has caused prices to go up this year, causing the damage caused by cheaper offerings from Chinese competitors.

Such is the sense of crisis surrounding the spicy pickled side dish eaten daily by many Koreans and central to Korean identity, that the government recently laid out plans to build two massive cabbage storage facilities.

The facilities to be built in rural counties of Goesan and Haenam will be equivalent to three football fields in size, and will be equivalent to 9,900 sq m each. They will be able to store 10,000 tons of cabbages and pickle 50 tons of cabbages daily.

The construction, expected to cost taxpayers 58 billion won US $40 million, is due to be completed in 2025.

The government intervention to store produce and supply the industry at affordable prices can't happen soon enough for local kimchi makers struggling to purchase sufficient cabbages at current high prices.

A climate change in recent years has caused higher temperatures and heavier rain to damage cabbage crops, curtailing supply. The price of cabbages doubled in less than three months this year, as a result of a surge in inflation to 24 year highs hit in July.

In June we used to buy cabbages and store them for later use when cabbage prices go up, but this year we are already out of stock, said Ahn Ik-jin, chief executive of Cheongone Organic.

He said we used to produce 15 tons of kimchi a day but now we are only producing 10 tons or less. His company has had to raise its kimchi price by two-thirds to 5,000 won US $3.5 per kilogram.

South Korea's kimchi industry has been on a slippery slope for a long time.

Chinese imports, often priced at about a third of locally made kimchi, have surged over the past two decades to account for 40 per cent of the domestic market for commercially made kimchi.

Much of the industry has crumbled when you add in weak cabbage harvests over the past few years. About three-quarters of the commercially made kimchi is cabbage-based, although kimchi can be made from other ingredients.