The Bank of Korea (BOK) reported today that import prices for South Korean products increased in January, supported by rising world crude oil prices.
South Korea’s import price index was 166.70 in January, up 34.4% year-on-year. It thus arose for the 14th month in succession, driven by rising crude oil prices.
In value terms, import prices for mining products more than doubled in January.
Import prices of coal and petroleum products increased by 69.5%, import prices of base metals increased by 40.8%, and import prices of textile products increased by 27.0%.
Export prices for coal and petroleum products increased by 87.4% last month. The export price of base metals increased by 41.0%.