S. Korea's import prices dip for 3rd month in June

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean import prices declined for the third
straight month in June due to pullbacks in oil prices and slumping domestic
demand, the central bank said Tuesday.
In local currency terms, prices for imports tumbled 11.9 percent last month from
a year earlier, compared with from a 13.9 percent fall in May, according to the
Bank of Korea (BOK). The decline in May was the largest in nearly 10 years.
However, import prices rose 5.1 percent in June from the previous month,
rebounding from a 3 percent fall in May.
"The pace of the fall in import prices slowed in June as oil prices fell more
steeply in May than in June, compared with last year," said Lim Su-young, an
official at the central bank.
Raw material prices fell 29 percent on-year in June after nose-diving 32.4
percent annually in May, the BOK said.
After peaking at $147 per barrel in July last year, oil prices now hover near
US$60 per barrel. South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, relies
entirely on imports for its oil needs.
The Korean won declined an average 18.3 percent against the U.S. dollar in June
compared with 2008.
Meanwhile, the country's export prices declined 3.3 percent from a year earlier
in June, compared with a 4.1 percent fall the month prior, the central bank said.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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