Korea’s export, import prices in April rise for 3rd month on exchange rates

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s export and import prices rose for a third consecutive month in April as the local currency weakened against the U.S. dollar.

According to data on export and import price indices released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Tuesday, the won-converted export price index against the baseline of 100 in 2015 in April was 117.92, up 0.1 percent from 117.79 in March. It has been rising on-month for the third month since February but remains 7.5 percent lower than a year ago.

The rise in export prices was led by chemical products at 1.2 percent and primary metal products at 2.1 percent. In contrast, those of agriculture, forestry and fisheries products fell 0.6 percent and computers, electronics and optical devices 3.6 percent.

Prices of cold-rolled steel strip and terephthalic acid rose 15.4 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, while those of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) declined 16 percent, computer memory equipment 2.4 percent and jet fuel 5 percent.

“Export prices rose month-on-month as the won to dollar exchange rate increased despite weak semiconductor prices,” said Seo Jeong-seok, head of the BOK’s price statistics team.

The average won to dollar exchange rate was 1,320.01 won last month, up 1.1 percent from the previous month. In fact, export prices based on the contract currency without factoring in the exchange rate impact fell 1 percent from the previous month.

The import price index in April was 139.81, up 0.7 percent from 138.87 in March. The month-on-month increase has continued for the third straight month while it is 5.8 percent lower than a year ago.

Import prices of raw materials rose 1.9 percent from a month earlier, mainly led by mining products at 2.3 percent. Intermediate goods, on the other hand, fell 0.4 percent from the previous month as coal and oil products shed 5.2 percent while primary metal products gained 1.0 percent.

Prices of crude oil and other refined precious metals rose 7.4 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, while those of natural gas dropped 6.6 percent, propane gas 22.1 percent, flash memory 5.4 percent and corn 8.1 percent.

“Prices of mining products and other imported goods led the rise amid increasing international oil prices and exchange rates,” Seo said.

Average Dubai oil prices gained 6.3 percent to $83.44 per barrel in April from $78.51 in March.

Import prices before considering the exchange rate impact declined 0.5 percent from the previous month.

“International oil prices and major raw material indices are both falling this month,” according to Seo. “The trend remains to be seen given the high uncertainties.”