Rows of cup bingsu (shaved ice), a seasonal summer menu at Mega MGC Coffee [MEGA MGC COFFEE] Summer came early to Korea — and so did the seasonal summer items. Retailers across the country are rolling out iced drinks, cooling wear and ready-to-eat samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) meal kits weeks ahead of schedule as soaring May temperatures reshape shopping habits and kick off an increasingly early battle for summer consumers. “I naturally find myself looking for summer foods even though it’s only May because it already feels like early summer,” Lee said. Lee, an office worker who works in Jongno District, central Seoul, bought cup bingsu (shaved ice) with coworkers after lunch on Thursday as temperatures climbed to 31 degrees Celsius (87.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Lee also plans to order ready-to-eat samgyetang meal kits online for the upcoming weekend, as temperatures are expected to rise further. The early arrival of Korea’s so-called cool marketing season, a seasonal marketing campaign designed to help consumers cool down or replenish energy during the hot weather, has largely been accelerated by hasty consumers who look for ways to cool themselves down amid the heat. “As summer lasts longer, competition to capture summer demand has also started earlier,” a retail industry source said. Children play by the Han River in Mapo District, western Seoul, on April 12. [YONHAP] Food manufacturers and convenience store chains have already begun releasing seasonal foods traditionally associated with summer. Shinsegae Food began selling its “Ginseng Chicken Soup with Farro Samgyetang” ready-to-eat meal kit on Monday, moving up the launch of its samgyetang product lineup by about 20 days compared to last year. The company also increased its samgyetang production volume by 15 percent this year compared to last year. “We expect demand [for samgyetang meal kits] to rise much more this year due to the early heat, rising restaurant prices and growing consumer interest in health-focused eating,” said a representative for Shinsegae Food. Sales of Shinsegae Food’s samgyetang meal kits rose 32 percent last year compared to the previous year. A product photo of Ginseng Chicken Soup with Farro, a ready-to-eat meal kit released by Shinsegae Food on May 11. [SHINSEGAE FOOD] CJ CheilJedang is also set to launch its samgyetang meal kit on Monday. Seafood and food company Dongwon Industries plans to launch its black garlic-grilled minmul jangeo (freshwater eel) product as early as next month. The products were originally scheduled for an early July launch, but have been expedited after considering this summer's climate forecast. Convenience store chains are also moving earlier than usual. While seasonal health-focused convenience meals were typically launched in early to mid-July around Chobok (the first of Korea’s three hottest summer days), GS25 plans to begin selling health-focused summer food meal kits in mid-June this year. Competition over iced drinks is heating up among coffee chains. Grapefruit Mango Coco Frappuccino, Starbucks Korea's summer menu for 2026. [STARBCUCKS KOREA] Coffee chains Starbucks Korea, A Twosome Place, Mega MGC Coffee and Ediya Coffee have all moved up the release dates for their seasonal summer beverages and menus by several days. Starbucks Korea launched its signature summer drink, the Grapefruit Mango Coco Frappuccino, on Monday, 11 days earlier than last year. Consumer demand is also picking up quickly. Sales of Mega MGC Coffee's cup bingsu products exceeded 1 million cups in two weeks of launch. A Twosome Place reported that its iced drink sales from May 1 to 5 rose about 15 percent compared to the previous week from April 26 to 30. Fashion retailers are also moving quickly to push summer clothing and footwear to the front of stores. Retail channels such as Shinsegae Department Store and Lotte ON have begun discount events focused on summer apparel. Convenience store chain CU has been selling so-called "cooling wear," functional clothing designed to lower perceived body temperature, since March. Summer shoes sold on fashion and beauty platform Zigzag [ZIGZAG] “We began planning and developing [the cooling wear] products last winter in order to move up summer product launches,” a CU official said. CU's sales of cooling wear and ice cream from May 1 to Wednesday increased 62.3 percent and 24.1 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. Purchase volumes for jelly shoes, lightweight plastic summer footwear, from April 8 to May 7 surged 48-fold compared to the same period last year, according to online fashion platform Zigzag. “The summer consumption season, which once lasted around three months, is now stretching to as long as six months,” said Lee Jong-woo, a professor at the Department of Global Distribution and Marketing at Namseoul University. “Companies that quickly recognize and respond to climate change-driven consumption patterns will gain an advantage in capturing summer demand.” This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
詹姆斯・诺埃尔 - 贝斯威克在研报中表示：美国当前柴油出口规模放在常规时期堪称异常，但在库存处于低位的背景下，这种出口势头无法无限维持，终将倒逼价格重新定价。 “当前形势十分反常：美国馏分油库存已处于自身历史标准下危险的低位水平，却仍以创纪录或接近纪录的规模对外出口。” 美国上周馏分油库存为 1.025 亿桶，自 2003 年以来从未跌破 1 亿桶关口。此前馏分油库存已连续六周下降，上周库存环
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