Import prices rise for 3rd month in September

Containers are stacked up at a port in Busan on Sept. 21. [NEWS1]

Korea’s import prices rose for the third consecutive month in September amid climbing crude oil prices and weak won against the dollar, according to the Bank of Korea’s (BOK) preliminary data on Tuesday.

The import price index rose 2.9 percent in September from a month earlier. The on-month import price increases stood at 4.2 percent and 0.2 percent in August and July, respectively.

“Prices of secondary products, coal and petroleum goods rose due to a rise in global oil prices,” the BOK said.

The Dubai crude price stood at $93.25 per barrel last month, up from $86.46 in the previous month amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The import price of raw materials went up 5.7 percent over the same period, slightly down from a 6.5 percent advance in August. The import prices of intermediate goods rose 2.0 percent in September from 3.8 percent on-month growth in August.

The export price index rose 1.7 percent over the same period, compared to 4.2 percent and 0.1 percent advance in August and July, respectively.

The export prices for agricultural, forestry and marine products fell 1.3 percent compared to a 1.1 percent deceleration in August. The export prices for manufacturing products rose 1.7 percent, down from 4.2 percent on-month growth in the previous month.

The export prices in September rose from a month earlier due to a rise in coal, petroleum and chemical product prices amid a weaker won, according to the BOK.

“Inflation is generally displaying a stable flow,” said Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho in a statement during a ministerial meeting on Tuesday. “But uncertainties surrounding prices have resurfaced due to a rise in global oil prices and aggravated weather conditions.”

Choo vowed to offer up to a 30 percent discount on 12 agricultural products with unstable prices, including napa cabbage and apples, and promised a quota tariff on imports, like mangoes and mackerel from late October.

Consumer prices rose 3.7 percent in September from a year earlier, accelerating from a 3.4 percent on-month increase in August. It peaked at 6.3 percent in July last year.

The central bank's Monetary Policy Board is scheduled to hold a rate-setting meeting on Thursday. The board has kept its key interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for the fifth straight time after delivering seven consecutive hikes from April 2022 through January 2023.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]