South Korea producer price fall eases in Jan vs Dec

[SEOUL] South Korea's producer prices in January in annual terms fell at a slower pace in January from the previous month, central bank data showed on Friday, as the drop in global oil prices eased slightly.

Producer prices fell 3.3 per cent in January from a year ago, the Bank of Korea said, the slowest decline since December 2014.

The fall in December was revised to 4.0 per cent.

January's decline mainly slowed due to a smaller fall in industrial product prices, which carry the heaviest weighting on the scale. Industrial product prices slipped 5.8 per cent from a year earlier in January, compared to a 6.8 per cent drop in December.

According to the central bank, global oil prices slid 41.3 per cent in January from a year ago, after a 42.0 per cent fall in the previous month.

A January jump in agricultural product prices was attributed to the slower fall in the headline number. Such prices rose 5.1 per cent on-year versus a 1.4 per cent gain in December.

The same data showed producer prices slipped 0.5 per cent in monthly terms in January, while priced inched down a revised 0.2 per cent in December.

REUTERS