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Bank of Korea reports 0.6% monthly rise driven by silver, DRAM amid falling energy costs

Last month’s producer price inflation rate compared to the previous month reached its highest level in a year. According to the Bank of Korea’s “January Producer Price Index” released on the 24th, producer prices rose by 0.6% from the previous month, marking the largest increase since January of last year. This marks the fifth consecutive monthly rise. The year-on-year increase rate was 1.9%, matching the levels seen in November and December, which were the highest in 16 months. Producer prices are reflected in consumer prices with a time lag. Lee Moon-hee, head of the Bank of Korea’s Price Statistics Team, explained, “The rise in prices of primary metal products such as silver ingots and financial services contributed to the increase in producer prices.”

As silver prices surged at the beginning of the year, silver ingots rose by 43.6% compared to the previous month, while DRAM semiconductors, whose demand skyrocketed due to the U.S.-driven AI (artificial intelligence) boom, increased by 49.5%. As the Korean stock market surged significantly in January, brokerage commissions, which increase alongside rising stock prices, also rose by 15.2%. With global energy prices falling, prices of diesel and gasoline dropped by 5.1% and 6.0%, respectively, leading to significant declines in coal and petroleum product prices.

On a year-on-year basis, rice prices, which have been recording double-digit increases since August of last year, rose by 22.2% compared to the same month of the previous year, continuing their high growth rate. The year-on-year price of DRAM semiconductors surged by 177.0%, while flash memory prices jumped by 115.1%. Due to the continued strength in gold prices, gold ingot prices rose by 75.3% compared to the previous year.

Source : chosun