SEOUL: South Korea’s export prices continued to fall from a year earlier in June due to a large drop in global oil prices that affected overall prices of South Korean petroleum products, central bank data showed Wednesday. Export prices, in terms of local currency, slipped 4.9 percent on-year last month, quickening from a 4 percent drop in the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.
From a month earlier, export prices inched up 0.2 percent, slowing from a 2.4 percent on-month gain in May. The on-year cut was attributed to low global oil prices, which in turn affected export prices of the country’s petroleum and petrochemical products.
Export prices of coal and petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel, plunged 21.4 percent on-year in June, according to the BOK. Prices of chemical products also tumbled 10.4 percent over the cited period. Export prices of farmed goods, on the other hand, spiked 14.9 percent on-year in local currency terms. Weak export prices of South Korean goods have partly contributed to a prolonged slump in exports. The country’s outbound shipments have dropped every single month since the start of last year. Prices of imports also continued to drop at a fast clip, falling 4.9 percent on-year in June.
