The United States has become South Korea's largest source of beef imports in October as more consumers prefer American products as an alternative to the expensive local supply, US quarantine data showed Monday. 

South Korea imported a total of 10,551 tons of American beef from Oct. 1-20, surpassing Australian imports of 8,382 tons over the same period, according to the data compiled by the US Meat Export Federation.

The monthly imports of American beef first beat Australian in August, but the trend reversed in the next month.

South Korea halted imports of US beef in 2003 in the wake of a mad cow disease outbreak and lifted the ban in late 2008, which led to mass demonstrations among people in fear of their safety.

Although American beef's market share fell behind other imports in the early years of resumption, it has growingly emerged as a popular alternative to expensive local beef over the past few years.

Industry officials say improved consumer perception of American products and rising prices of Australian beef stemming from drought has led to higher consumption of US products, expecting the trend to last for a while under the current circumstances.

"Last year, US beef was over 30 percent more expensive than Australian beef as a long drought pushed up feed prices," said Yang Ji-hye, the chief of USMEF's Korean branch. "Prices of US beef have been stabilized this year, while Australian beef have been affected by drought."

According to a recent survey jointly conducted by USMEF and Gallup, half of Korean consumers said they are willing to eat American beef, while 44.7 percent said they consider American beef safe.

South Korea's beef imports surged to a new record high last year mainly due to a spike in local meat prices, with Korean and import beef taking up 43.6 percent and 56.4 percent of the domestic market, respectively, the Korea Customs Service said.  (Yonhap)