Dairy farmers, firms agree to freeze milk price amid inflation

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Tuesday dairy farmers and businesses have reached an agreement to freeze the price of raw milk to alleviate the public burden amid ongoing inflation. The agreement was reached after negotiations that began in June to address the rising production costs, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Following the agreement, the price of drinking milk will be fixed at 1,084 won (US$0.78) per liter starting Aug. 1. The price of milk used to make processed goods, including cheese and powder, will be reduced by 5 won to 882 won per liter, the ministry added. As major milk producers, including Seoul Dairy Cooperative, Maeil Dairies Co. and Namyang Dairy Products, pledged to freeze the retail prices of their plain milk, the ministry added that the move will also help limit price hikes for other related goods that use milk as an ingredient. Separate data compiled by Statistics Korea indicated that the production cost of milk increased by 4.6 won per li ter from a year earlier. In June, prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products rose by 6.5 percent on-year, despite overall consumer prices slowing to an 11-month low, with an increase of only 2.4 percent. Source: Yonhap News Agency