South Korea's July producer prices rise faster vs June

[SEOUL] South Korea's producer prices rose for a ninth straight month in July, and by a faster annual pace than in June, as costs of electricity, tap water and gas increased due to higher-than-usual temperature, central bank data showed on Monday.

The producer price index (PPI) for July rose 3 per cent from a year ago, the Bank of Korea said, compared with June's 2.8 per cent gain.

The sub-index showed that producer prices rose for all sectors with electricity, tap water, and gas growing 5.4 per cent and agricultural goods up 11.4 per cent, according to central bank data.

By end-July, industrial goods, which have the heaviest weightage on the index, edged higher to 3.1 per cent as global oil prices showed signs of a rally.

The PPI, on a monthly basis, was up 0.1 per cent in July, reversing a fall of 0.4 percent in June.

REUTERS