Korea’s producer prices rebound in Aug.

Korea’s producer prices rebounded in August from the previous month as oil costs and agricultural product prices increased, the central bank said Monday.

The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, rose 0.3 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 0.1 percent on-year fall in July, according to the Bank of Korea. July marked the first month in nearly three years that producer prices dropped on-year.

Compared with the previous month, the index climbed 0.7 percent in August after falling for the third consecutive month in July.

The BOK said gains in agricultural product and energy costs raised the country’s producer prices last month.

Crop prices rose 5.7 percent, extending their gain to four straight months, with fruit prices spiking 16.9 percent on-year, the BOK said.

Utility costs surged 7.8 percent in the cited period, following the government’s decision to raise electricity rates early last month.

Despite marginal rises in producer prices, more analysts forecast that the BOK will likely cut the key rate to 2.75 percent on Thursday. The central bank froze the rate at 3 percent last month after delivering a surprise rate cut in July to shield the local economy from the protracted eurozone debt crisis.

The country’s consumer prices rose 1.2 percent on-year in August, the slowest clip in more than 12 years, amid government efforts to keep inflationary pressure down.

August’s consumer inflation was well below the central bank’s target band of 2-4 percent for 2010-12. (Yonhap News)