Export Price Drop
Export prices dropped to the lowest level in January in 28 years, raising concerns over the profitability of exporters which are suffering a strong won and global oil price drop.
According to the Bank of Korea on Feb. 11, the won-based export price index (based on 100 in 2010) of last month was 82.71, down 4.2 percent from the previous month.
This figure is the lowest since Jan. 1987 (82.17). The 4.2 percent drop in export price means that earned money in Korean won decreased 4.2 percent in a month, even when selling the same products. It dropped 8.5 percent from a year ago.
The average won-dollar exchange rate dropped 1.4 percent to 1088.86 won per U.S. dollar in January, from 1104.33 won in last December. The major factor is the plunge of export prices of petroleum products and chemical products due to the global oil price drop.
The import price index (80.25) also dropped 7.3 percent from the previous month, the lowest level in seven years and two months since Nov. 2007 (79.22).