Rising Oil and Commodity Prices Push Import Prices to Highest in 7 Years and 3 Months... Up for 3 Consecutive Months

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunbyeol] As international oil prices and raw material prices rise, South Korea's import prices in July reached the highest level in 7 years and 3 months. Export prices were at their highest level in 7 years and 10 months.

According to the 'July 2021 Export and Import Price Index' statistics released by the Bank of Korea on the 13th, last month's import price index was 119.73, up 3.3% from the previous month, marking the third consecutive month of increase. The import price index showed the highest level since April 2014 (120.89).

This is analyzed to be due to the rise in raw material prices such as international oil prices. In July, Dubai crude oil averaged $72.93 per barrel, up 1.9% from the previous month.

By item, raw materials rose 4.6%, mainly driven by mining products (4.8%), and among intermediate goods (3.4%), coal and petroleum products (8.1%) showed a clear increase.

The export price index in July also rose 3.5% from the previous month to 111.19, continuing an upward trend for eight consecutive months. Compared to the same month last year, it rose 16.9%, marking six consecutive months of increase. The export price index is at its highest level since September 2013 (111.38).

This was influenced by increases in coal and petroleum products, computers, electronics, and optical devices. Agricultural, forestry, and fishery products rose 6.0% from the previous month, and manufactured goods increased by 3.5%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.