Downward Trend
South Korea’s import prices have kept on declining for 37 months in Sept.
The Bank of Korea unveiled on Oct. 13 that import prices in local currency fell 13 percent in Sept. from the same month of last year, while showing a slight slow drop compared to 13.6 percent in the previous month.
The drop of import prices was attributable largely to cuts in import prices of oil and petroleum products. Import prices of oil in the month tumbled 35.1 percent year-on-year, and those of petroleum products fell 42.3 percent.
The central bank said that the average price of Dubai crude oil, which accounts for around 80 percent of South Korea's total oil imports, fell down to US$45.77 per barrel in Sept. from US$47.76 in the previous month.
In the meantime, export prices in Sept. fell down 1.9 percent from a year ago, compared to a 1.6 percent drop in the previous month year-on-year.
Export prices also recorded just an 0.6 percent decline from the previous month, despite the local currency weakening against the U.S. dollar. The won traded at 1,184.76 against the U.S. greenback in Sept., compared to 1,179.1 in Aug.