SEOUL: Foreign fruit imports rose 7.9 percent in the first five months of this year, fueled by steady demand for smoothies, fruit-based drinks and ice flakes, data showed Wednesday.
According to the data by the Korea Customs Service (KCS), imports of mangoes, bananas, grapefruits, cherries, pineapples and grapes reached US$438 million in the January-May period, up from $406 million tallied for the year before.
Among others, imports of cherries surged 75.3 percent on-year to $57 million. The numbers for grapefruits and mangoes increased 26.6 percent and 25.6 percent, respectively, with grapes moving up 5.4 percent, they showed.
But imports of bananas dipped 3.8 percent over the cited period, with domestic demand for pineapples falling 13.8 percent.
Imports of the six key fruits jumped 23.3 percent on-year to $778 million in 2014.
