South Korea producer prices in March fall at fastest pace since mid-2009

[SEOUL] South Korea's producer prices last month fell at the fastest pace since mid-2009 compared with the year before, central bank data showed on Monday, declining for an eighth straight month as cheap global oil kept prices low.

Producer prices in March fell 3.7 per cent in annual terms, the Bank of Korea said, dropping at the fastest pace since a 3.8 per cent fall in July 2009 and compared with a 3.6 percent decline in February.

Manufactured goods, which have the heaviest weighting in the index, continued to drag down the entire index, falling 6.1 per cent in March on-year but by a slightly slower pace than in February.

Among manufactured goods, coal and oil products plummetted 32.7 per cent last month on a yearly basis, compared with a 35.5 per cent drop seen in February.

On monthly terms, producer prices edged down 0.1 per cent in March to follow a 0.1 per cent gain the previous month.

REUTERS