Due to the rise in raw material prices such as international oil prices, the domestic producer price level rose to the highest level in over five years in a month.
According to the Bank of Korea on the 21st, the producer price index (provisional, 2015 level of 100) in March was 116.46, up 1.3% from the previous month (114.95). This is the 3rd consecutive month of increase.
The month-on-month increase rate (1.3%) is the highest record in five years and two months since January 2017 (1.5%).
Compared to a year ago, it is 8.8% higher, continuing the upward trend for the 16th month.
Son Jin-sik, head of the inflation statistics team at the BOK’s Economic Statistics Bureau, explained, “This is the effect of the industrial goods index continuing to rise as the price of raw materials such as international oil prices rose.”
Looking at the price index fluctuations by sector as of the previous month, industrial products, which account for the largest portion of the index calculation, jumped 2.3%.
In particular, among industrial products, coal and petroleum products (15.6%) were the highest in 1 year and 9 months since June 2020 (21.3%), and chemical products (2.8%) were the highest in 11 months since April 2021 (3.4%). growth rate was recorded.
The coal and petroleum products index (194.75) and the chemical products index (121.21) themselves are all-time highs, respectively.
The agricultural, forestry and fishery products and electricity, gas, water and waste sectors rose 0.2 percent each.
Team leader Son explained, “Indices in electricity and other sectors also rose as the price of major production fuels such as bituminous coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) rose.”
The service sector rose 0.3%. This is due to an increase in the food and lodging index (0.9%) due to an increase in international grain prices.
By item, beer (7.6%), Korean food (0.8%), bakery (5.6%), mobile phone (2.5%), diesel (22.3%), and air freight (2.7%) rose.
The domestic supply price index, which measures price fluctuations including imported goods, rose 2.3% from the previous month. Raw materials, intermediate goods and final goods all rose.
The total output price index in March, which includes domestic shipments and exports, also rose 2.2%.
(Photo = Yonhap News)
