Producer prices up in Feb. on price hike of petrochemical products

South Korea's producer prices rose slightly last month from a year earlier due to a hike in the prices of coal and petrochemicals, the central bank said Monday.

The producer price index came to 102.62 in February, up from 98.48 a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. Producer prices serve as an indicator of future consumer inflation.

Month-on-month, the February index also gained from a revised 102.31 in January.

Prices of manufactured goods rose 6.9 percent in February from a year earlier, while prices of agricultural and fisheries goods gained 7.1 percent during the same period, the data showed.

Utility prices, including electricity and water, fell 4.4 percent in February from a year earlier. (Yonhap)