Photo = Yonhap News
As agricultural product prices soared last month, the rate of increase in producer prices hit the highest in 16 months. This is due to the soaring of ingredients such as green onions and chicken, as well as rising raw material prices, and petroleum products also continuing a high stride. There are also concerns that inflationary pressure will increase.
Looking at the’February 2021 Producer Price Index’ released by the Bank of Korea on the 24th, the producer price index last month was 105.85 (based on 100 in 2015), up 2.0% from the same month last year. The year-on-year increase rate was the largest since October 2018 (2.1%). Compared to the previous month, it rose 0.8%, and it has continued to rise for four consecutive months since last November. Producer prices are the wholesale prices of goods and services supplied by producers to the market and are usually reflected in consumer prices with a lag of one month. As such, there is an analysis that the upward pressure of consumer prices will increase.
The year-on-year growth rate of producer prices recorded negative in March-November last year. However, the rate of increase is growing at 0.2% in December last year and 0.9% in January this year. Soaring agricultural product prices pushed producer prices up. As the price of green onions soared, green onions that have spread to the so-called’patech’ (green onion + jaetech), which are grown and eaten at home, have risen 341.8% in a year. The number of apples has doubled to 91.3% in a year. Rice rose 15.7%.
Cucumbers rose 59.6% and apples rose 21.3%. The rate of increase in agricultural product prices rose 5.9%. As the temperature of last January and February fell sharply compared to the average year, the impact of the decrease in agricultural production was large. Chicken and eggs also jumped 33.3% and 91.3% each year due to the spread of avian influenza. LCDs for TVs and LCDs for laptops also rose 46.1% and 12.9%, respectively. As exports increased, air freight rates rose 69.4% and international air passenger charges rose 5.7%.
Reporter Kim Ik-hwan [email protected]
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