SEOUL: South Korea’s import prices declined last month due to cheaper crude oil that offset an upward pressure from the weakness of the South Korean currency to the U.S. dollar, central bank data showed on Thursday.
The import price index stood at 81.40 in August, down 0.3 percent from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year ago, the index tumbled 13.6 percent. The price decline came as Dubai crude, South Korea’s benchmark, averaged 47.76 U.S. dollars per barrel in August, down 14.1 percent from the previous month.
Prices for imported capital and consumer goods gained 3.2 percent and 2.5 percent each last month, but import prices for raw materials slumped 5.3 percent. Prices for imported general machinery and electronic products increased more than 3 percent, but those for coal and oil products plunged 9.3 percent.
Export prices advanced 0.7 percent in August from a month earlier on the back of the South Korean currency’s fall versus the greenback. The prices kept an upward trend for four months in a row.
The won/dollar exchange rate averaged 1,179.1 per dollar in August, up 3.1 percent from the prior month. Export prices for coal and oil products plunged 10.6 percent on cheaper oil, but those for most of other products increased last month.
