July Import Prices Fall for 11 Consecutive Months

SEOUL, KOREA- Import prices have fallen for 11 months in a row. With the declining prices for import goods, it is expected the overall domestic consumer prices would follow suit as well. According to the Bank of Korea on August 12, the July import prices have dropped 4.3 percent from the previous month. This is the eleventh consecutive month in which import prices fell since September last year when the prices for import goods declined 2.2 percent month on month.

Lee Hyun-young, Bank of Korea manager in charge of price statistics, said, "Despite the rise in international oil price last year, the overall import prices showed a downward trend largely due to a fall in other primary goods prices and a favorable turn in the won-dollar exchange rate."

By individual item, import intermediate goods prices fell 5.4 percent year on year, of which those for general machinery (-12.9%) and primary steel products (-11.8%) led the pack. The import prices for capital goods (-5.6%) and raw materials with agricultural, forestry, fishery, and mining components (3.7%) also exhibited a declining trend. In contrast, the import prices for consumer goods rose 0.7 percent.

Korea IT Times (info@koreaittimes.com) 다른기사 보기