Trade terms improve to 26-month high in June

South Korea’s terms of trade improved to a 26-month high in June as import costs fell at a sharper pace than export prices amid the global economic slowdown, the central bank said Tuesday.

The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods ― a gauge of trade terms ― came in at 90.5 in June, up 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.

The on-year growth in the trade terms in June slowed from a 6.1 percent on-year gain tallied in May, but the June reading marked the highest since the index hit 91.4 in April 2011.

The index is calculated by dividing the export price index by the import price index. The base year is 2010 with a benchmark index of 100.

The improvement in trade terms came as import prices declined at a faster clip than export costs amid the global economic slowdown.

In June, the index gauging export volumes declined 1.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 9.5 percent on-year gain in May, according to the BOK.

A BOK official said that the yen’s weakness was not seen as affecting the fall in export volumes last month, adding that exports declined on weaker global demand for steel and petrochemical products.

Korea’s income terms-of-trade index, another gauge of trade terms, reached 111 in June, up 4 percent from the previous year, the BOK noted.

The index measures how much can be imported with the total export value. (Yonhap News)