Prices of South Korea’s agricultural, livestock and fisheries imports jumped nearly 32 percent in February from a year earlier, data showed Monday, putting upward pressure on the country’s inflation.
The import price index for farm, livestock and fisheries products came to 112.6 in February, up 31.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute.
By sector, the import index for agricultural goods spiked 33.3 percent on-year in February, with that for livestock and fisheries products jumping 36.7 percent and 13.5 percent.
February’s surge was attributed to a global supply chain bottleneck, rising demand amid the global economy’s recovery from the coronavirus impact and geopolitical risks stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The South Korean currency’s weakness against the U.S. dollar was also responsible, the institute added. Market watchers voiced concern that the import price index could have risen at a faster pace in March since the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent international grain prices skyrocketing…