South Korea's export and import prices both dropped last month.
The central bank says falling international oil prices was the main reason for the decrease.
Ko Roon-hee reports.
Export and import prices are the main indicators of how a country is affected by global trade conditions.
And according to the nation's central bank on Tuesday, South Korea's export and import prices both dropped last month... mainly due to lower international oil prices.
In December, import prices fell by 3-point-4 percent from the month before, the second monthly decline in a row.
As for why, the BOK pointed to international oil prices... which fell by more than 12 percent on month.
The price of Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, was around 57 U.S. dollars a barrel,... around 8 dollars cheaper than in November.
Analysts said there were signs of oversupply in the U.S., but also investor sentiment was low because of the slowing global economy and lower demand for fuel as a result.
For instance, in December, the import prices of petroleum and coal products dropped by more than 10 percent on month.
Generally, import prices affect domestic producer prices, which in turn influence consumer prices.
Export prices also decreased by 2 percent during the same period.
In particular, the export prices of petroleum and coal products dropped by more than 12 percent.
Prices of chemical products also fell by more than 3 percent... due to lower demand from China.
BOK officials say this is partly because of the U.S.-China trade war.
The export prices of electrical equipment and electronics, which include semiconductors, dropped by more than 1 percent.
Prices of flash memory in particular dropped by almost 7 percent on month and more than 43 percent on year... due to lower demand.
For the whole of 2018, however, export prices were the same as the year before and import prices were up more than 6 percent.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
