South Korea’s producer price index (PPI) touched a fresh peak for the seventh consecutive month in October amid relentlessly high crude oil and other raw materials prices, suggesting inflationary buildup in the coming months.

The country’s PPI, indicating the average movement in selling prices from domestic production with base year set at 2015, reached 112.21 in October, up 0.8 percent from a month earlier, showed the Bank of Korea’s report on Friday.

The index has been heading north since November last year. It has been hitting a fresh record high for seven consecutive months.

Against a year-ago period, the index jumped 8.9 percent, the fastest annual gain since October 2008. Year-on-year gain also has continued for 11 months straight.

The growth in producer price bodes badly for consumer prices in the coming months. A change in production prices of goods and services tends to be reflected in consumer prices a month later.

!--[[--image1--]]//--> PPI continued to rise in October as prices of crude oil and other raw materials stayed strong while global supply chain trouble added pressure, said Choi Jin-man, statistics team director at Bank of Korea.

Industrial goods prices increased 1.8 percent on month. Diesel price jumped 17.4 percent, naphtha 12.4 percent, and aluminum chassis bar 16.4 percent.

Utility prices gained 2.3 percent, due to the rise in electricity and gas prices.

Prices of agricultural, forestry, and livestock products fell 4.7 percent. Cabbage price plunged 47.9 percent, potato 38.9 percent, pork 14.9 percent, and squid 7.2 percent.

Service prices stayed unchanged from a month earlier as an increase in food and accommodation prices was offset by a fall in financial and insurance service prices.

Domestic supply price index, which measures price fluctuations of goods including imported products, gained 1.4 percent on month to 115.46.

Total output price index including exports and domestic shipments rose 0.5 percent.

By Cho Jeehyun

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