Korea's producer prices extend slump in Dec.

Producer prices in South Korea dipped to a new six-year low in December due largely to a drop in prices of industrial goods, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The producer price index came to 99.06 last month, down from a revised 99.25 the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.

Producer prices serve as a barometer of future consumer inflation.
The December figure marked a 0.2 percent on-month drop, slowing from a 0.4 percent cut in the previous month.

However, December marked the sixth consecutive month the index has declined from the previous month. From a year earlier, the December figure marks a 3.93 percent drop.

The fall was mostly attributed to a decline in prices of industrial products, which slipped 0.5 percent on-month, while the index for agricultural goods surged 1.7 percent from the previous month.

The price of coal and petroleum continued to show large cuts amid a drop in global oil prices, plunging 23.5 percent on-year in December, according to the BOK data. (Yonhap)